U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Walmart has given into the anti-gun movement and will stop selling handgun ammunition, and .223/5.56 caliber ammunition. They have also asked their customers to stop open carrying in their stores.
The decision came after weeks of pressure from anti-gun groups who used the shooting in an El Paso, Texas Walmart as an excuse to push their agenda on the retail giant. According to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, the chain will also put pressure on Congress to change gun laws.
“It’s clear to us that the status quo is unacceptable,” McMillon said in a memo to employees on Tuesday.
McMillon said he was avoiding alienating customers on both sides of the gun debate. A goal that gun-rights activist said the company has severely missed.
“We will treat law-abiding customers with respect, and we will have a very non-confrontational approach,” McMillon said. “Our remaining assortment will be even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts.”
Gun owners do not see Walmart’s decision as treating them respect. By pushing the Government to take away its customer’s rights, it seems that Walmart is disrespecting their customers.
Walmart sees its decision as a way of balancing their customer’s rights with the safety of their customers and workers. Walmart did not go into any detail on how stopping the sales of certain ammunition keeps customers and employees safe.
Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt thinks those that decided to stop selling the ammunition do not understand guns and firearms usage. The leadership at Walmart ignored the defensive usage of firearms and incorrectly use the term “SBR” in multiple places leading many to wonder if the company knows what is an SBR.
“It is disappointing to see WalMart ignoring the fact that guns are used more often to save lives than to take life,” Pratt told AmmoLand via email. “Their decision to restrict gun and ammunition sales will have the opposite effect and will not make people safer.”
“Moreover, their statement that they are discontinuing the sales of ‘short barrel rifle ammo’ is just amateurish, because there is no such thing as ‘short barrel rifle ammo.’ There is just ammunition. And any ammo that can fit in a ‘long-barreled rifle’ can also fit in a ‘short-barreled rifle.'”
“Speaking of ‘short-barreled rifles,’ any rifle that has a barrel of less than 16″ is considered an SBR (a Short-Barreled Rifle) and is HIGHLY REGULATED by the Federal Government under the NFA (National Firearms Act). I believe that I can accurately say that there is NO WALMART IN THE NATION that is selling SBRs. So, it seems that the people making the policy decisions at Walmart have virtually no familiarity with firearms or ammunition.”
Walmart currently sells 20% of all ammunition in the country. The companies own forecast has this number dropping to 6% to 9% once the stores deplete their current stock.
Walmart will also stop selling handguns in Alaska. Alaska is the only state that Walmart still sells handguns. In the Alaskan wilderness, residents see handguns as a necessity to remain safe.
In the months after the New Town shooting, Bloomberg-backed, anti-gun groups pressured Walmart to stop selling the ever-popular AR-15 sporting rifle. Gun-rights advocates see the Walmart decision as bending to the pressure of well-funded anti-gun lobby groups.
Walmart did not return AmmoLand’s request for comment.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
Never shopped at Walmart much, just went there for the quality of people watching. The quality of their products suck. Closed the Walmart CC account today.
Mybe we should go in and every Chinese label ends up on floor,accidentally, Bring on the tariffs.
I only started to shop at Walmart on a regular basis about a year ago. Well, guess what? I control how I spend my hard-earned money and it will NOT go to spineless corporate execs. They made a decision to exclude me from shopping there and I will comply. There are other stores that have a wide selection of products, and many more of them are American-made. I am taking my business elsewhere, even if my drive is a little farther.
Good bye, Walmart, and good riddance.
This is not surprising. They have to much cash just like Dicks, Amazon and the NRA. The big problem here is that the people they rely on for sales are the people they are coming out against. They estimate their sales of ammo will go down to 9% but they forgot to figure how much their other products will go down. No guns on premise means the same thing as a no guns sign. Are they going to willingly pay the survivors when some crazy shoots the place up? No safety in going in there. That’s ok we don’t need… Read more »
We need an in your face pro gun pro constitution pro right wing values retailer. Anyone who does it could easily grow as big as WalMart or Amazon.And while we are at it someone should code a search engine for all of us that blocks hits from fake news sites. Let’s start playing their game and see how they like it.
OK. That’s it. No more Walmart…..Unless the pressure they put on Congress is to change gun laws to expand gun rights.
I agree that the status quo is unacceptable, but the antis’ proposals are even more so.