More than 130K sign petition calling on Walmart to end gun sales

A Change.org petition calling for Walmart to discontinue gun sales in the wake of a mass shooting at one of its stores in El Paso, Texas, has attracted more than 130,000 signatures as of Wednesday.

Backers of the petition include many of the retail giant’s employees, according to The Washington Post. On Tuesday, Thomas Marshall, a Walmart category specialist, sent the petition to CEO Doug McMillon, writing in a note that “Customers no longer feel as safe as they once did in our stores. We must do more. We have the power to do more.”

{mosads}“Our company has already made huge strides towards these goals, banning assault-style weapons in 2015 and raising the minimum age to buy firearms and ammunition from 18 to 21 in 2018,” the letter states.

The petition further calls for Walmart’s political action committee, WALPAC, to end donations to politicians with a rating of A or A+ from the National Rifle Association.

“We think the steps we’ve taken in the past were positive ones and we’re considering a number of additional steps,” Marshall said in a response to the petition posted to Change.org.

“By far, our number one priority is safety. Sales and profit are not driving our decisions here. We’ll take the necessary time to think this through and share our conclusions at the right time,” he added.

Earlier this month, Marshall claimed Walmart retaliated against him for urging employee walkouts to pressure management, telling Gizmodo that the company shut him and a colleague out of their internal accounts.

A spokesperson for Walmart told The Hill Marshall’s account was active again when he returned to work.

The El Paso shooting killed 22 people, with the suspect arrested by police allegedly telling them he targeted “Mexicans.” He has been tied to a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto decrying a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

—Updated at 4:34 p.m.