Two weeks to the date of the horrific February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced they will no longer sell assault-style rifles in their stores. The mass shooting left 17 people dead and has been the catalyst in sparking the most recent gun control debate.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the largest sports retailers in the country, released a statement early Wednesday announcing their decision.
We at DICK’S Sporting Goods are deeply disturbed and saddened by the tragic events in Parkland. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their loved ones. https://t.co/J4OcB6XJnu pic.twitter.com/WmT50BO7mx
— DICK’S Sporting Goods (@DICKS) February 28, 2018
CEO, Edward Stack appeared on Good Morning America to defend the company’s stance. He said, “We’re staunch supporters of the Second Amendment. I’m a gun owner myself. We’ve just decided that based on what’s happened with these guns, we don’t want to be a part of this story and we’ve eliminated these guns permanently.”
If this announcement seems like deja vu for Dick’s customers, that’s because they made the same claim in 2012 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 children and six adults were killed. In response, Dick’s announced they would be suspending all sales of certain semiautomatic weapons at the time. However, that suspension was not permanent and the weapons were later sold at their Field & Stream stores, according to Vox.
When asked if Dick’s would rescind on their decision again, Stack said, “Never.” Mass shootings in schools is not a new trend or something we’re just now seeing. However, the outcry and swift demand for change is beginning to make a dent in the pockets of corporations and has slowly pressured companies to cut ties with the NRA and use their power to demand change as well.
“When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset,” Stack told The New York Times. “We love these kids and their rallying cry, ‘enough is enough.’ It got to us.”
For a number of Americans, enough is enough after this last horrible shooting — and maybe this time it will stick.