Company stops selling assault-style weapons
Affected by the recent student outcry on weapons after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, the CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods made sweeping changes to the company's gun sale policy.
The move seems to have vexed some gun proponents in Butler County.
Edward Stack, CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, based in Findlay Township, Allegheny County, announced Wednesday that assault-style rifles will no longer be sold at any of the company's 35 Field & Stream stores nationwide.
The weapons were removed from all Dick's stores after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 but continued to be sold at Field & Stream, which is owned by Dick's.
The Wednesday morning news release stated that the accused Parkland shooter on Nov. 17 bought a gun at a company store. That gun was not used in the Parkland shooting, but Stack said the company was moved to act.
“We at Dick's Sporting Goods are deeply disturbed and saddened by the tragic events in Parkland,” Stack said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their loved ones. But thoughts and prayers aren't enough.”
Beginning Wednesday, the company enacted the following changes:
Discontinued sales of assault-style rifles, also known as modern sporting rifles. All such weapons were removed from stores Wednesday.
The age to buy any firearm was raised to 21.
Discontinued sales of high-capacity magazines.
Stack went a step further and asked legislators nationwide to join him in asking for the passage of the following “common-sense gun reform regulations”:
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 law.
Ensure a complete, universal database of those banned from buying firearms.
Close the private sale and gun show loophole that waives the necessity of background checks.
“Some say these steps can't guarantee tragedies like Parkland will never happen again,” Stack said. “They may be correct, but if common sense reform is enacted and even one life is saved, it will have been worth it.”
The company has 35 Field & Stream stores; one is in Cranberry Township.
Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe said that while the Dick's CEO is free to make whatever corporate decision he likes, the semi-automatic rifles will still be available at other stores.
“There are more places than not selling semi-automatic rifles,” Slupe said of gun purveyors.
He did disagree with Dick's referring to the semi-automatic rifles as “assault-style weapons.”
“You might as well say I have an assault pistol because I have 10 rounds in the magazine,” Slupe said.
He said some gun enthusiasts are modifying the magazines for pistols so they can fire 30 rounds at a time, which Slupe said is the same size as the magazine in an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
“If somebody wants to commit a crime, they're going to find a way,” Slupe said.
Fred Dean, vice president of the Mars Rod and Gun Club, said mental instability is the problem people should be focusing on in the wake of the Parkland massacre.
“The guns are not the problem,” Dean said.
He said in school shootings the focus is always on the weapon when security at the school, a mentally ill perpetrator or other issue may have been the cause of the incident.He likened banning assault-style rifles to not allowing any guns within 100 feet of a school building.“If they say you can't have one within a mile of the school, would it change anything?” Dean said.The issue of school shootings and violence against the masses, Dean said, is a major struggle today.“It's a very complex situation we're dealing with,” he said.The PA SAFE Caucus, which is comprised of state legislators committed to reducing gun violence through a number of measures, issued its own news release Wednesday applauding Dick's Sporting Goods.“It's encouraging to see that the efforts of young people and students from all over the country are starting to rub off on the people who can make a real change,” said Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, caucus co-chairman. “As a Pittsburgher, I'm very proud that Dick's made this decision and I hope they will be joined by more businesses in doing the right thing and sending the message that assault weapons are not welcome in our communities anymore.”Another caucus co-chairwoman, Madeline Dean, D-Montgomery, was glad to see a retailer taking the same stance as PA SAFE.“Accessories such as bump stocks and high-capacity magazines should have no place in the market, and we have bills for that,” Dean said. “But right now, retailers can act more quickly than the Legislature to help make sure these deadly weapons and accessories don't end up in the wrong hands.”State Rep. Don White, R-41st, Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, and Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, did not return phone calls Wednesday regarding the changes at Field and Stream.On his website, Metcalfe has placed a flyer for his April 30 rally in Harrisburg to “stand up against Wolf's attack on your right to bear arms.”Metcalfe accuses Gov. Tom Wolf of activating a trigger in state law that criminalizes the open carrying of any firearm when Wolf declared a state of disaster emergency because of the state's opioid crisis.Metcalfe claims that the state Crimes Code mandates that citizens are prohibited from carrying a firearm in public places during a state of emergency declared by a state or municipal government executive.
