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Walmart Joins Dick's In Raising Age Restriction to 21 On Guns
Walmart announced that in light of recent school shootings they are making changes to their gun policy.
Walmart has joined Dick’s Sporting Goods in raising the age restriction for firearm purchases to 21.
"In light of recent events, we’ve taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age,” the company said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
The retailer said they will implement this plan as soon as possible. The statement explains how Walmart already stopped selling the AR-15 and other modern sporting rifles in 2015. They do not sell handguns, except in Alaska.
“Additionally, we do not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories," the statement reads. “We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys. Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.”
Walmart calls itself a “responsible seller of firearms” in their statement, and that the chain goes “beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm. The law would allow the sale of a firearm if no response to a background check request has been received within three business days, but our policy prohibits the sale until an approval is given.”
Earlier in the day, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it was immediately ending all sales of assault-style rifles. As for the other guns they sell, they announced they will immediately start banning sales to people under age 21.
The announcement came on “Good Morning America,” where company Chairman and CEO Edward Stack made an appearance to explain the decision.
"Based on what’s happened and looking at those kids and those parents, it moved us all unimaginably," Stack said. Of course, he is referring to the recent Valentine’s Day school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which took the lives of 17 people. Since then, survivors of the shooting have become activists, outspoken about their stances on gun control.
[Photo: Getty Images]
