US retailers Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods on Wednesday became the latest companies to shift course on guns, announcing that they were ending firearms sales to consumers under 21.
Responding to the outcry over a Valentine’s Day Florida school shooting that saw a 19-year-old kill 17 people, Wednesday’s announcements are likely to pile more pressure on US politicians to take steps to enact some kind of gun control.
Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would remove assault-style rifles from stores and end all gun sales to consumers under 21, calling on politicians to enact “common sense gun reform.”
Photo: AP
“We have tremendous respect and admiration for the students organizing and making their voices heard regarding gun violence in schools and elsewhere in our country,” Dick’s chief executive Edward Stack said. “We have heard you. The nation has heard you.”
Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, later announced that it would also raise to 21 its minimum age to buy firearms and ammunition, the result of a policy review “in light of recent events.”
“We are also removing items from our Web site that resemble assault-style rifles, including non-lethal airsoft guns and toys,” said Walmart, which in 2015 stopped selling assault-style rifles.
Last week, other companies, including airlines, insurers and car rental chains, announced the end of promotions with the National Rifle Association (NRA), revealing a partial shift in US gun politics amid fervent student-led activism and intense social media campaigns.
“Are we at a tipping point on guns?” George Washington University political management professor Matthew Dallek asked in a column on Yahoo on Wednesday.
A Morning Consult poll found strong support for gun control within the broader population, with nearly two-thirds of registered voters backing tougher measures, including strong majorities among millennials considered important by marketers.
However, in the past, public support for gun control has risen right after shootings only to retreat a few weeks later, said Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of Gallup poll. “Before we pronounce that there’s been a major shift in terms of American public opinion, we need to see if it’s sustained.”
Companies are also keenly aware that they risk alienating customers who support gun rights, including the NRA, the powerful lobbying group which comprises more than 5 million members and has battled almost all gun regulation.
The NRA called last week’s announcements “a shameful display of political and civic cowardice.”
A separate Morning Consult/Politico poll showed that the unfavorability rating among consumers doubled to 24 percent from 12 percent after announcing that it ended a discount for NRA members, while its favorability rating was unchanged.
Stack on Wednesday said he was prepared for a likely backlash following the Dick’s announcement.
“We know this isn’t going to make everyone happy,” he told the news and feature show Good Morning America.
However, after the students ordeal, “our view was if the kids can be brave enough to organize like this, we can be brave enough to take [the guns] out of here,” Stack said.
Companies that have shifted course have tried to thread the needle by championing gun ownership rights.
“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 said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was