REUTERS/ Michelle McLoughlin
Joseph Barbarito holds a sign as he waits for protesters to deliver a petition to Walmart in Danbury, Connecticut January 15, 2013.
- Walmart said in a statement that it will stop selling guns and ammo to customers under the age of 21.
- The company will also stop selling nonlethal airsoft guns and toys that resemble assault weapons on its website.
- This comes after Dick's Sporting Goods announced a similar move Wednesday morning.
- Walmart had stopped selling assault-style weapons in 2015.
Walmart is following Dick's Sporting Goods' lead.
The world's largest retailer has announced that it will raise age restrictions for the purchase of firearms and ammo to 21 years of age starting immediately, according to a press release.
This comes hours after Dick's Sporting Goods announced it will also raise its age restriction to 21, and stop selling assault-style weapons in its 35 Field & Stream stores. In November, Dick's sold a gun to Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old accused of killing 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, though a different gun was used in the shooting, according to The New York Times.
Walmart stopped selling assault-style weapons in 2015.
The company will also stop selling items "resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys" on its website.
"Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way," the company's statement reads.
Here's Walmart's full statement:
In light of recent events, we've taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change.
In 2015, Walmart ended sales of modern sporting rifles, including the AR-15. We also do not sell handguns, except in Alaska where we feel we should continue to offer them to our customers. Additionally, we do not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories. We have a process to monitor our eCommerce marketplace and ensure our policies are applied.
We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm. The law would allow the sale of a firearm if no response to a background check request has been received within three business days, but our policy prohibits the sale until an approval is given.
We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys. Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.
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