Walmart Joins Dick's Sporting Goods In Tighter Limits On Gun Sales

[Norm dePlume]

Walmart Joins Dick's Sporting Goods In Tighter Limits On Gun Sales

Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods say they won't sell guns to customers under 21, and both are putting new restrictions on ammunition sales.

Dick's Sporting Goods, one of the largest sports retailers in the U.S., has announced it is immediately ending its sales of military-style semi-automatic rifles and is requiring all customers to be older than 21 to buy a firearm at its stores. Additionally, the company no longer will sell high-capacity magazines.

Walmart, which ended sales of modern sporting rifles such as AR-15s in 2015, has announced that it is raising the minimum age for purchasing firearms and ammunition from 18 to 21. The company notes that it does not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories.

This, along with the list of companies disassociating from the NRA, seems like there is a shift happening.

[80zephyr]

This to shall pass.

Mark

[Newman]

This, along with the list of companies disassociating from the NRA, seems like there is a shift happening.

Like the way advertisers and ginned up outrage about Sandra The Slut Fluke was going to topple Rush Limbaugh?

There may be some tinkering. Bump stocks gone at last. (Shows how little I've kept up --- I thought they were shot down after the Vegas shooting last fall.) Maybe tougher reporting requirements, so the FBI and local authorities can't as easier let a ticking bomb like Nik Cruz can't remain at large.

I sense an increase in skepticism toward government integrity and competence. Scott Israel is the poster boy for everything disgusting and frightening about government authorities. Opinion polls I read say most of the public is following this story, and most of them think the fault lies with the government and not with guns.

Sen. Feinstein may still be talking about "weapons of war," but the public is not.

That change, fairly small in fact, will prove more enduring and consequential than yet another take down by boycott campaign by the fever swamp left.

[JB]

...seems like there is a shift happening.

There is. We're becoming a nation of spineless cowards.

Kudos Leftist agenda.

[Norm dePlume]

Embedded Tweet

[JB]

"We deeply believe that this country's most precious gift is our children. They are our future. We must keep them safe." <---There's a song in there somewhere.

How incredibly trite. Did a tech manager write something that lame?

You're not exactly focused on the children there, Dick's. Particularly the teens. Your actions won't do much to help them. Kudos on caving to the radical Left though:

dicks.jpg

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm

[80zephyr]

Embedded Tweet

Good for them. I guess the market will decide if they did the right thing or not.

Mark

[Norm dePlume]

There is. We're becoming a nation of spineless cowards.

Kudos Leftist agenda.

Here you go. Maybe this will make you feel better.

Blessing the AR-15

[Gingersnap]

Apparently the backlash against companies disengaging from NRA discounts is a thing now.

What's baffling to me about these corporate positions is that they are responding to social media pressure but ignoring the bulk of people who actually buy their products.

Millennials don't rent cars, buy hockey or soccer equipment, or even use security systems.

While I might use a corporate or small business product that aligns with my views on whatever, I'm much more likely to not use whatever it is if they make a definitive statement I don't like. I think that's true of most people on either side.

What I really want as a consumer is to not know any corporate position on politics or social issues unless I look hard at their donation history (which I might). Otherwise, I prefer to buy soap or dog leashes without navigating the company's official position on anything.

I'm not a "better" person for patronizing a business nor am I "worse".

It's ironic that in the 70s, 80s, and early 90's they actually taught this in school - it was 'Consumer Awareness'. Where they taught you that marketing is just lying but with better graphics.

[JB]

Here you go. Maybe this will make you feel better.

As soon as I get an AR I am damn sure getting it blessed.

Their actions will do nothing to Save The Children!11!. Pandering. Plain and simple.

[Frostbit]

This, along with the list of companies disassociating from the NRA, seems like there is a shift happening.

Would that be a shift towards responsible firearm ownership that included not allowing yours to be stolen?

[Tom Servo]

The NRA counts just 5 million members in their paid ranks, but 14 million identify themselves as NRA members.

That's 4% of the total U.S. population. Even if each and everyone of them — members and ones who support the NRA — were to stop using all these companies tomorrow, I doubt it would make a more than a rounding error in their revenues.

I've always been a strong believer that boycotts don't actually work except as social pressure. They give the illusion of lost customers but practically no organization is actually big enough to make a dent in most major corporation's revenues. Even the boycotts that groups like Focus on the Family and the AFA claim to wage against pro-gay companies has never really affected anyone's bottom lines, and I suspect there are more people following them than the NRA.

Everyone is picking on Dick's but I suspect that the bigger story will be what happens with Walmart. What happens when the only place in town to buy just about anything gets on your bad side? Do the gun nuts boycott the biggest retailer in the country, or do they suck up and keep buying their Great Value eggs and milk there?

Now, having said that… just as boycotts don't work, taking a product off the shelf doesn't work, either. Every town (at least in the south) has a gun shop. There are five or six locally owned ones within probably 15 miles of me, not including chain stores. Walmart and Dick's won't likely miss the revenue, but people still can buy these things literally anywhere at any time. It won't make a difference.

[gary m]

Dicks's quit selling AR after Sandy Hook and I don't remember the last time I saw any firearm in a Michigan Walmart. I was at Dick's this past weekend looking at some 30-06 ammunition for a recent acquisition and their prices were 15-20% more on almost everything, including guns, than other places I go to and I was the only person in the department, so they are not exactly a major player in the market at least locally.

Cabelas and Dunhams usually have better prices for ammo than most other brick and mortar stores including Dick's and Walmart and there are dozens of online retailers that have everything firearms owners would ever need.

Just like companies dumping the NRA will not affect their bottoms lines by much, whatever Dick's and Walmart do will have no impact on gun or ammunition sales.

[gary m]

If Walmart and Dick's had any balls, bad pun intended, they would quit selling any and all firearms and all related accessories.

This is some publicity seeking, feel good horse puckey probably not resulting from this latest shooting or any other but due to the fact that they are not getting enough of a return on these items when their $20-$25 30 round Magpuls can be had at any of a dozen online retailers or weekend gun shows for $10-$12.

Just last weekend I picked up another half dozen 30's for $40 out the door. Dick's or Walmart would have been 2-3 times that.

[Lady Marva]

This is some publicity seeking, feel good horse puckey probably not resulting from this latest shooting or any other but due to the fact that they are not getting enough of a return on these items

Agree. not going to effect overall sales. But oh well, they made a gesture.