Dick’s Sporting Goods Ends Sale of Assault-Style Rifles After Florida School Shooting

The outdoor sports arm of Dick’s Sporting Goods will no longer sell the weapons favored by mass shooters.

Following the massacre at a South Florida high school two weeks ago, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Wednesday that it will no longer sell the types of weapons favored by mass shooters. 

The retailer will no longer sell assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines, nor will it sell guns to persons under the age of 21. 

Dick’s removed assault-style weapons from its stores in 2012 after a man used an AR-15 style weapon to fire more than 150 shots in less than five minutes, killing 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

But Dick’s began selling the weapons again in 2013 when it opened a chain of outdoor sports-themed stores called Field & Stream (unrelated to the magazine of the same name). Field & Stream now has 35 locations across the country. Wednesday’s announcement means assault-style weapons will be removed from shelves at Field & Stream. 

The company also called on elected officials to enact gun control measures including a ban on assault-style weapons and raising the minimum purchase age to 21. 

Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack: “We know there’s gonna be some backlash… We concluded that if these kids are brave enough to organize and do what they’re doing then we should be brave enough to take this stand.” https://t.co/3MlCiN8S8N pic.twitter.com/GFuEbqOWom

— CNN (@CNN) February 28, 2018

“We support and respect the Second Amendment, and we recognize and appreciate that the vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens,” Dick’s CEO Edward Stack said in a statement. “But we have to help solve the problem that’s in front of us. Gun violence is an epidemic that’s taking the lives of too many people, including the brightest hope for the future of America – our kids.

“Following all of the rules and laws, we sold a shotgun to the Parkland shooter in November of 2017. It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting. But it could have been.”