Walmart is set to end sales of handguns in Alaska and will discontinue the sale of short-barrel rifle and handgun ammunition in stores nationwide, the super chain’s president and CEO announced Tuesday afternoon.
The store said it will gear its focus toward long-barrel deer rifles and shotguns, supplying much of the ammunition they require and providing hunting and sporting accessories and apparel, Doug McMillon wrote in a memo.
“We have a long heritage as a company of serving responsible hunters and sportsmen and women, and we’re going to continue doing so,” McMillon said.
Walmart is going back to its folksy hunting heritage and getting rid of anything that’s not related to a hunting rifle after two mass shootings in its stores in one week left 24 people dead in August of 2019.
The changes will reduce Walmart’s market share of ammunition from around 20 percent to a range of about 6-9 percent, according to the memo. Of its nearly 5,000 U.S. stores, about half sell firearms.
The announcement comes just days after a mass shooting killed seven people in Odessa, Texas. Two other major shootings occurred last month in Dayton, Ohio, and in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 22 people inside a Walmart.
In response to the shootings, Walmart also asked that customers no longer openly carry firearms into its stores or Sam’s Clubs in states where “open carry” was permitted unless law enforcement authorized it. However, McMillon noted that the store wouldn’t change its policy and approach regarding concealed-carry permits.
Trump Announces Deal to ‘Substantially Lower the Price of Ground Beef’
Chinese Man Charged with Illegally Voting in US Election and Trying to Frame Someone Else
Two US Army Corps of Engineers employees among 8 killed in Alaska charter plane crash
WATCH: Deputies hunt wanted man through cornfield after high-speed chase caught on camera
Black voters rip Dems over taking them for granted in El-Sayed’s backyard: ‘Hush us up’
Trump-appointed judge blocks blue state’s crackdown on ICE detention center
Breaking: Supreme Court Sides with Trump on White House Ball Room Construction
NY Knicks Owner Turns Against Kathy Hochul, Gives Big to Republican Opponent
ICC president decries being sanctioned by US: ‘Demise of international rule of law’
Appeals court upholds Letitia James subpoena block as DOJ vows to appeal to Supreme Court
Trump to transform spaceflight from spectacle to status quo targeting 3 launches per day
Revealed: The ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ That Kept Devastating Karmelo Anthony Evidence Out of Court and What that Evidence Was
Surprise election upset shows hating Trump is no longer enough as Democratic voters turn to new playbook
Surrogate Mom and Baby Flee to TX for Protection as Bio Parents Sue Her for Refusing to Abort Baby
Karmelo Anthony fights for new trial as lawyers clash over unwritten deal that shaped case
“We encourage our nation’s leaders to move forward and strengthen background checks and to remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger,” the statement said.
McMillon said he would write letters to the White House and congressional leadership to call for “action on these common sense measures.”
Walmart reminded customers that it has changed its policy regarding firearms sales in the past, including stopping the sale of military-style rifles such as the AR-15, raising the age limit to purchase firearms or ammunition to 21, and requiring a “green light” on background checks.
McMillon apologized to well-intentioned customers who may be inconvenienced by the new policies but said he hoped they understood the reasoning behind the decisions.
“We will treat law-abiding customers with respect, and we will have a very non-confrontational approach,” McMillon wrote in the announcement. “Our priority is your safety.”
Company officials also said they’ll add signage to stores to notify customers of the changes.
Source: Walmart to stop Alaska handgun sales, end sales of short-barrel rifle and handgun ammo nationwide
