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.
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: UCLA mob mess, veiled threats of violence and a major win over DEI
NFL Legend and Hall of Famer Abruptly Hospitalized, Lawyer and Friend Issues Update
Trump Admin Throws Out Obama-Era Gender Rule in Favor of ‘What the Lord Established from the Beginning’
Florida Dem filed for re-election days before resignation as House Ethics Committee ramped up pressure
Poll Shows Young People Fleeing Major Dem City Due to Cost of Living, Safety, And Jobs
NANNY STATE: UK Slaps Nation’s Youth with Permanent Lifetime Smoking Ban
Grinning suspect cuffed after alleged fiery street takeover, drag race caught on camera
Texas substitute teacher accused of improper relationship with student, alarming parents
Incredible Video: Skycam Catches Massive Tornado Narrowly Missing Oklahoma Town During Violent Storm Outbreak
Trump Gives LA Mayor Karen Bass Special Copy of Bible During Oval Office Meeting
Mamdani in the hot seat after first veto derails bipartisan effort to combat antisemitism: ‘Disappointed’
Transgender lawmaker ‘doesn’t know what a woman is,’ White House says after dig at Trump firings
Hakeem Jeffries left scrambling after child reporter asks why voters view Democrats so negatively
Rob Reiner’s Oldest Son Speaks Out for First Time Since Parents’ Death: ‘Too Impossible to Process’
Israel Appoints Its First Ever ‘Special Envoy to Christian World’ After Controversial Incidents
“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
