On February 28th of 2018, Dick’s Sporting Goods released a media statement on the status of assault rifle sales in their stores, due to the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida just days before. Detailed in the statement are the specifics of the sales of guns at all of the corporation’s stores, not solely Dick’s. In the statement, they stated that they would no longer sell assault-style rifles, also referred to as modern sporting rifles (which they had already removed from all Dick’s stores after the Sandy Hook massacre, but will now remove them from sale at all 35 Field & Stream stores), sell firearms to anyone under 21 years of age, high capacity magazines, and never have and never will sell bump stocks that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly.

In the words of their open letter, “the thoughts and prayers are not enough.” They believe they can make a change by restricting the sales of guns in their own stores, as the Parkland shooter had purchased a firearm from one of their stores months before.

They encouraged elected officials to do the following: ban assault-style firearms, raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21, ban high capacity magazines and bump stocks, require universal background checks that include relevant mental health information and previous interactions with the law, ensure a complete universal database of those banned from buying firearms, and close the private sale and gun show loophole that waives the necessity of background checks. Many are outraged and believe this was too much of a political statement on Dick’s Sporting Goods’s part, but some believe it is the appropriate precaution to be taken before more tragedies take place.

Cassidy Reed (12)  has some opinions on the sales of guns in their stores. “As far as guns go, especially here in the south, a lot of people rely on them for food and such, like up in the mountains. However, they are being misused in many cases. I also don’t think anyone under 21 should have a gun, because your brain isn’t even fully developed yet. You aren’t even fully mature, so you’re definitely not mature enough to handle a firearm. I think Dick’s is definitely taking a step in the right direction,” she said.

As more tragedies like this happen, the world begins to see change taking place. Whether one believes the effect is positive or negative is a matter of opinion, but people are making change happen right before the world’s eyes.

Sources

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/retail/2018/02/28/heres-what-dicks-sporting-goods-ceo-ed-stack-wrote-his-companys-actions/381452002/