Walmart announced Tuesday that they will discontinue the sales of certain guns after two deadly shootings that occurred in their stores.In a press release, CEO Doug McMillon announced that:
- After selling through current inventory commitments, they will discontinue sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber that, while commonly used in some hunting rifles, can also be used in large capacity clips on military-style weapons
- They will sell through and discontinue handgun ammunition
- They will discontinue handgun sales in Alaska, marking their complete exit from handguns
"We know these decisions will inconvenience some of our customers, and we hope they will understand. As a company, we experienced two horrific events in one week, and we will never be the same. Our remaining assortment will be even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts. It will include long barrel deer rifles and shotguns, much of the ammunition they require, as well as hunting and sporting accessories and apparel. We believe these actions will reduce our market share of ammunition from around 20% to a range of approximately 6 to 9%. We believe it will likely drift toward the lower end of that range, over time, given the combination of these changes." McMillon wrote.
The changes come after two shootings in the southern United States.
The first shooting occurred in Southaven, Mississippi when two Walmart associates were killed by another associate.
The second shooting occurred in El Paso, Texas when a gunman used an assault-style rifle and launched a hate filled attack in a Walmart Store, shooting 48 and killing 22.