This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/business/walmart-guns-ammunition-sales.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Walmart to Limit Ammunition Sales and Discourage ‘Open Carry’ of Guns in Stores Walmart to Limit Ammunition Sales and Discourage ‘Open Carry’ of Guns in Stores
(about 7 hours later)
In response to the shooting in its El Paso store last month that killed 22 people, Walmart said Tuesday that it would stop selling certain types of ammunition that are commonly used by hunters but can also be used in military assault rifles. Walmart stepped forcefully into the national gun debate on Tuesday, saying it would stop selling ammunition that can be used in military-style assault rifles, would discourage its customers from openly carrying guns in its stores and would call on Congress to increase background checks and consider a new assault rifle ban.
The company also announced that it would begin discouraging customers from openly carrying firearms into its stores in states with open carry laws. One month ago, a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, a massacre that put pressure on the company to respond to the wave of mass shootings across the country. It is the nation’s biggest retailer, and a large seller of firearms and ammunition.
The nation’s largest retailer made the announcement after weeks of discussion about how best to respond to the violence on Aug. 3. The company said that after “selling through our current inventory commitments” it would discontinue the sale of certain short-barrel rifle ammunition and all handgun ammunition. Walmart said it made the announcement after weeks of discussion and research about how best to respond. The decision is in line with public opinion polls that favor more gun controls, and advocates, gun violence victims and others have increasingly called for action.
Walmart had stopped selling the type of assault-style rifle that was used in the El Paso shooting several years ago, but the company decided to go further by ceasing to sell effectively any ammunition that could be used in these weapons. The company said that after “selling through our current inventory commitments,” which could take several weeks, it would stop selling certain short-barrel rifle ammunition and all handgun ammunition.
“We’ve also been listening to a lot of people inside and outside our company as we think about the role we can play in helping to make the country safer,” Walmart’s chief executive, Doug McMillon, said in the statement on Tuesday. “It’s clear to us that the status quo is unacceptable.” The retailer, whose sheer reach has reshaped communities nationwide, largely avoids publicly wading into politics. That made Walmart’s statement on Tuesday even more notable. It called on leaders in Washington to enact stronger background checks to “remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger.” The company said it also supported a new debate over an assault rifle ban.
Walmart is one of the largest corporations in the United States and its single biggest private employer, which brings it into daily contact with millions of people of nearly every political and cultural stripe, and its customers have a wide range of views on guns. “As we’ve seen before, these horrific events occur and then the spotlight fades,” Walmart’s chief executive, Doug McMillon, said in the statement. “We should not allow that to happen. Congress and the administration should act.”
The retailer acknowledged that its new policies may be unpopular with many customers and even some employees who are adamantly opposed to firearm restrictions. Mr. McMillon said that he owned a gun and grew up raising bird dogs in Jonesboro, Ark. [Walmart’s C.E.O. stepped into the gun debate, and others should follow, our columnist writes.]
“We have a long heritage as a company of serving responsible hunters and sportsmen and women, and we’re going to continue doing so,” Mr. McMillon said. Supporters of gun rights sharply rebuked Walmart’s decision. The National Rifle Association predicted in a statement that Walmart would lose business to other retailers, “who are more supportive of America’s fundamental freedoms.”
Since the shooting in El Paso, which came a few days after two people were fatally shot by a disgruntled worker at a Walmart in Mississippi, the company said it had undertaken a “thoughtful and deliberate” process in formulating a response to the violence. “The strongest defense of freedom has always been our free-market economy,” the group added. “It is shameful to see Walmart succumb to the pressure of the anti-gun elites.”
Shortly after the El Paso shooting, Walmart pulled signs for violent video games in its stores, but gun control groups called for more measures. Walmart several years ago stopped selling the type of assault-style rifle that was used in the El Paso shooting, but the company will now cease selling effectively any ammunition that could be used in those weapons.
The move to try to stop customers from openly bringing firearms into stores, which other companies, like Starbucks, have taken in recent years, could prove challenging for Walmart. Tens of thousands of store workers will have to be trained how to request that customers not openly carry their weapons into the stores. Firearms are not a particularly vital business for Walmart. But the company’s evolving policies signal a broader business strategy.
A Walmart spokesman said employees would be taking a “nonconfrontational” approach in carrying out the new policy, but that the stores were willing to contact law enforcement if a customer became disruptive. Walmart will eventually start posting signs around stores outlining the rule. Probably more than any other retailer, Walmart serves Americans of every socio-economic and cultural stripe, which means that any public policy stance the company takes will inevitably alienate many. And while it remains a dominant force in rural America, Walmart is betting much of its future on growing its e-commerce business in East and West Coast cities and suburbs, where potential shoppers tend to hold more liberal views, including on the need for more gun restrictions.
In making its decision to discourage open carry in its stores, Mr. McMillon cited “multiple incidents since El Paso, where individuals attempting to make a statement and test our response have entered our stores carrying weapons in a way that frightened or concerned our associates and customers.” With 1.5 million employees, Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, most of them the cashiers and managers in its network of 4,000 stores. However, the company is also trying to build its online business to compete with Amazon by recruiting younger engineers and developers, who are attracted to companies that profess social values that reflect their own.
“These incidents are concerning and we would like to avoid them,” he added in his statement. “Any decision that a company that is that big and that ubiquitous makes is going to please some people and upset others,” said Aron Cramer, chief executive of BSR, a nonprofit group that advocates for social responsibility in business. “It is extremely hard not to take action when people are dying at one of your stores.”
The company said it took time to research the changes, which come exactly one month after the El Paso shooting, and devise training for employees. Mr. McMillon, who became chief executive in 2014, has tried to bridge these various constituencies. He is a Walmart lifer who began working for the company as a warehouse employee when he was still in high school. In 2017, he was critical of President Trump’s comments after the violent rallies in Charlottesville, Va. But he has also emphasized his roots growing up in Arkansas, noting on Tuesday that he was a gun owner himself and acknowledging that the new policies may rankle many customers.
Walmart described its new limits on ammunition sales as “dramatic.” The decision is expected to reduce the company’s share of the nation’s ammunition market to as low as 6 percent, from 20 percent. The company said last month that it accounted for about 2 percent of the nation’s firearm sales. Walmart has taken steps to restrict gun sales during his tenure — like videotaping the point of the firearms sale and raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21. But most of those moves have been done with little public fanfare, while also often avoiding the broader topic of gun violence. In 2015, for example, the company said its decision to stop selling assault rifles was due to sluggish demand.
The retailer said it was also ending the sale of handguns in Alaska, the only state where the company still sells them. Walmart stopped selling handguns in every other state in the 1990s, but continued to sell handgun ammunition across the country. Since the shooting in El Paso — a few days after two people were fatally shot by a disgruntled worker at a Walmart in Mississippi — the company said it had undertaken a “thoughtful and deliberate” process in formulating a response to the violence.
Shortly after the El Paso shooting, Walmart removed signs for violent video games in its stores, but gun-control groups and several Democrats running for president called for more substantive measures.
On Tuesday, gun-control advocates celebrated Walmart’s announcement as evidence that most of the country supports more firearms restrictions. “They have their pulse on what Americans want, and the Senate should take note,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Mr. McMillon said the company would focus its gun business entirely on supplying rifles and ammunition for hunters.
“We have a long heritage as a company of serving responsible hunters and sportsmen and women, and we’re going to continue doing so,” he said.
Walmart described its new limits on ammunition sales, which includes no longer selling handgun ammo, as “dramatic.” The decision is expected to reduce the company’s share of the nation’s ammunition market to as low as 6 percent, from 20 percent. The company said last month that it accounted for about 2 percent of the nation’s firearm sales.
The retailer said it would no longer sell handguns in Alaska, its last state with such sales. Walmart stopped selling handguns in every other state in the 1990s, but continued to sell handgun ammunition across the country.
The effort to discourage customers from openly bringing firearms into stores, which other companies, like Starbucks and Target, have tried in recent years, could prove challenging and divisive. Store workers will have to be trained how to request that customers not openly carry their weapons, and the laws can vary by state.
The new policy stops short of banning open carry. Rather, Walmart said it would begin “respectfully requesting” that customers not bring their weapons along while they shop, unless they are concealed.
How the company, which as a private entity has the right to restrict the possession of guns inside its stores, intends to enforce the new policy is murky. The spokesman said employees would take a “nonconfrontational” approach. In some cases, the store may say nothing to customers with weapons if they seem innocuous. If customers or employees feel unsafe around someone openly carrying a gun, the store will contact the authorities, Dan Bartlett, Walmart’s executive vice president for corporate affairs, said during a call with reporters.
Shortly after Walmart’s announcement, the grocery chain Kroger said it too was requesting that its customers not carry weapons into its stores.
Regarding open carry in Walmart’s stores, Mr. McMillon cited “multiple incidents since El Paso, where individuals attempting to make a statement and test our response have entered our stores carrying weapons in a way that frightened or concerned our associates and customers.”
“These incidents are concerning and we would like to avoid them,” he added.
Some experts said the new policy might have the opposite effect, inspiring supporters of gun rights to openly bring firearms into Walmart stores.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see people force a confrontation and try to ruffle Walmart’s feathers,” said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of “Gun Fight: the Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America.” “The store employees are the ones who will have to solve the problem without getting themselves shot.”