“Dick’s Sporting Goods is banning sales of assault weapons after the Parkland, Fla. school shooting,” usatoday.com reports. “The nation’s largest sporting goods retailer announced the move in an open letter and an appearance Wednesday by CEO Ed Stack on Good Morning America.” Wait. Didn’t Dick’s already pull the plug on AR sales? Yes but . . .
Assault weapon sales ended at Dick’s stores after the Newtown, Conn. school shooting in 2012, but the company was still selling them at its Field & Stream locations, which specialize in hunting and outdoors products.
“As we looked at what happened down in Parkland, we were so disturbed and saddened by what happened, we felt we really needed to do something,” Stack told GMA’s George Stephanopoulos.
The retailer will also end sales of high-capacity magazines and sales of guns to people under 21 years old.
Well that’s new, and certainly qualifies as “doing something.” Something effective at stopping spree killers, criminals and crazies? No. But something.
Stack acknowledged that the Parkland school shooter had purchased a shotgun at one of the company’s stores in November. Though the killer did not use the gun in the shooting, the realization served as a catalyst for action.
Just as Dick’s decision to side with gun control activists will serve as a catalyst for a consumer boycott. Watch this space.