Walmart on Tuesday announced it will reduce its gun and ammunition sales, one month after more than 20 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Walmart also pressured Congress to enact gun safety measures.
Walmart will also request that customers no longer openly carry guns into its 4,700 US stores, or its Sam’s Club stores, in states that allow open carry.
“It’s clear to us that the status quo is unacceptable,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a memo to employees on Tuesday.
However, Walmart will continue to sell long barrel deer rifles and shotguns and much of the ammunition for those guns. Walmart will also continue to allow concealed carry by customers with permits in its stores.
Alaska, the only state that still sells handguns, will stop selling this type of product all-together.
McMillon said Walmart’s changes were prompted by the El Paso shooting, as well as recent mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio and Midland and Odessa, Texas.
These latest instances of deadly mass shootings in 2019 bring the total number of such incidents up to at least 17; 53 people have died in August alone.
In wake of the shootings, Walmart has faced enormous pressure to remove firearms from its physical stores and criticized for selling pro-gun T-shirts on its website. Several Democratic candidates for president have called on Walmart to stop selling guns at its stores. America’s largest teachers’ union, The American Federation of Teachers, and gun safety groups have pressed the retailer to end its gun sales.
“We understand that heritage, our deeply rooted place in America and ou influence as the world’s largest retailer. And we understand the responsibility that comes with it,” McMillon said.
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