Opinion
Fairfax, VA – -(Ammoland.com)- On June 4-5, the annual Yale Mayors College & CEO Summit was held in New York City. The theme of this year’s CEO Summit was “Trumpeting the Issues without Becoming the Issue: Selective Use of CEO Voice.” Making clear that much of the event was about corporate virtue signaling strategy, “Session 2” on the June 4 agenda was titled, “The Courage to Stand Alone: CEO Voice & Virtue.”
With the promotion of virtue-signaling the goal, Yale secured its two finest practitioners in their respective fields. At the event, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto presented DICK’S Sporting Goods CEO Edward Stack with the “Maverick in Leadership Award.” According to a press release from Peduto’s office, the award was for Stack’s “work on behalf of common-sense gun safety measures.”
Peduto presented the award alongside Ethan Allen CEO Farooq Kathwari. History buffs will note the irony attendant to the CEO of a company that trades off the name of an American Revolutionary War patriot promoting gun control.
The choice of Peduto to present the award to Stack was inspired. In his pursuit of gun control, Peduto has breached his duty to the public by advocating for local anti-gun measures that are illegal under Pennsylvania law. It can be argued that Stack has deviated from his duty to shareholders in order to indulge his political predilections.
In December, Peduto’s office proposed a raft of local gun control ordinances in violation of Pennsylvania’s firearms preemption law. The relevant statute (18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6120) makes clear,
No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.
Moreover, the matter of local gun ordinances had already been settled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In a 1996 case involving a local ordinance that restricted commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, Ortiz v. Pennsylvania, the court determined,
Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of the commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such regulation.
Despite the statute and clear precedent, in April Peduto signed legislation restricting the “use” of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines within the city. NRA immediately filed suit against Pittsburgh to vindicate city residents’ rights.
In February 2018, Stack announced that DICK’S and its affiliated Field & Stream stores (no relation to the publication of the same name) would stop selling commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles and would no longer sell any firearms to young adults ages 18-20. Stack also made clear that DICK’S would encourage lawmakers to pass a host of gun control measures, including a ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines, a ban on firearm sales to young adults ages 18-20, and the criminalization of private firearm transfers. The company went on to destroy its existing stock of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and hire corporate lobbyists to push its anti-gun agenda.
While Stack’s subsequent appearances in the national media might have boosted his ego, the CEO’s gun control push didn’t boost his company’s bottom line. In August 2018, DICK’S blamed sluggish sales partly on, “negative reactions to our policies related to the sale of firearms and accessories.” In December, DICK’S noted that it may close its hunting and fishing-focused Field & Stream stores. In March, DICK’S announced that it would stop selling firearms entirely in 125 of its stores. Later that month, Bloomberg reported that “Dick’s estimates the policy change cost the company about $150 million in lost sales…”
Given the acclamation Peduto’s anarchic behavior has received in the legacy press and gun control circles, look for the lawless mayor to receive some dubious “award” for his gun control advocacy in the coming months. Hopefully Stack will be on hand to present the award and complete the promise of this mutual admiration society. With their haphazard attack-gun-rights-at-all-costs approach, Peduto and Stack deserve each other. Sadly, their constituents and shareholders don’t deserve either.
About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
When do Mayor of Pittsburgh – City Council get charged with the very real crime of Official Oppression ?
Since they announced their shenanigans, I have bought exactly one thing from them – A holster I was pretty sure I didn’t want, but needed for a pistol course I was taking. I returned it afterwards, so I didn’t actually give them money.
I like to hope that hurt them in some small way. (credit processing fees? wasted inventory?) Otherwise, I’ve not spent a dime there in a LONG time.
I have 2 dunhams closer than my local dicks/F&S stores… and dunhams is still happy to put AR15s on their sunday flyer.
I agree with everything these people have said aside from my comment. I mentioned in another article in the comments about how dicks pulled AR-15 rifles from their shelves ahead of the supposed assault rifle ban that never went through during the Obama era. You talk about gutless and conformist and just Too Faced definition of a leftist business.
I have no idea why they even sell what they do but rest assured I haven’t spent a dime in that shithole ever since the Obama days nobody I know ever will either.
Ethan Allen would and probably is rolling in his grave. During the Revolutionary War, there was no overall ruler, and as a result, people in power, such as governors or sheriffs, would just take people’s land. Many colonists were victims of this kind of behavior. After a certain amount of this, a man by the name of Ethan Allen decided he had had enough. So he rounded up whichever of his friends he could find, and they decided to protect what was theirs. On one occasion, a New York sheriff came down to New Hampshire where Allen’s boys were, and… Read more »
Dr. James: What do you mean “… and their Field and Stream affiliates?” Otherwise, good riddance to bad rubbish. Regardless of which amendment to our Constitution that has come into play such a business deserves to be boycotted. Take for example Amendments XIII, XV or XIX (Slavery, Racism, and Right to Vote) and suppose some retailer, perhaps WalMart, was to take it upon themselves to withhold pay from employees but hold them in servitude or maybe suddenly blacks are not allowed in WalMart stores and finally, henceforth, WalMart employees no longer have the right to vote. (All hypothetical and tongue… Read more »
If you honor our Constitution, you will not spend any money at Dicks….. they are anti-gun and when ammunition was scarce in the early days of Obama’s admin. ….. they gouged the public by raising the prices way, way up.
Stay away from Dicks and their Field and Stream affiliates,