Chairman and CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods tells @GStephanopoulos why the company has decided to no longer sell assault style rifles or firearms to anyone under 21 years of age, and no longer sell high capacity magazines. pic.twitter.com/xiuMfqIZLd
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 28, 2018
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced early Wednesday it will stop selling assault-style rifles.
Dick’s also said it will no longer allow people who are under the age of 21 to purchase a gun and stop selling high-capacity magazines.
The move by one of the largest sports retailers comes just weeks after a mass shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people and wounding more than a dozen others. The shooting has sparked a wave of activism among students, who have been demanding that lawmakers act to prevent future school shootings.
{mosads}During an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said he was “disturbed and saddened” by what happened at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla.
“We felt that we really needed to do something and so we’ve decided not to sell these assault weapons any longer in any of our stores,” Stack said.
“Based on what’s happened, and looking at those kids and those parents, it moved us all unimaginably and to think about the loss and the grief that those kids and those parents had, we said, we need to do something,” he added.
“And we’re taking these guns out of all of our stores permanently.”
Stack also said there is no chance the store would reverse its decision, adding that it is ready for the backlash.
He also called for Congress to take action on gun control.
“We hope that Congress will come together … with the intent of really finding a solution to this problem,” he said.
The move comes as a number of companies have moved to cut ties in recent weeks with the National Rifle Association.
Updated at 7:38 a.m.