Report: Dick’s Sporting Goods to stop selling guns at most of its stores

After the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre in 2012, Ohio-based Dick's Sporting Goods announced that it would stop selling AR-15s. After the Parkland, FL school massacre in 2015, Dick's announced that they would deny military-aged adults 18-20 years-old the right to purchase ANY firearm.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported recently that Dick’s Sporting Goods will stop selling ALL guns at most of its stores starting this year.

From the article:

Dick’s Sporting Goods started to scale back gun sales in response to the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. Within two weeks, the company pulled assault rifles and high-capacity magazines from it shelves, and stopped selling firearms to people younger than 21.

...

The gun used in the massacre wasn’t sold by Dick’s, but “it could’ve been,” [CEO Ed] Stack said.

The TRUTH is, Dick's stopped selling guns a long time ago - because, in response to their anti-gun rights posturing, customers stopped going there.

Indeed, late last year Stack admitted to CBS Sunday Morning that his company had lost one-quarter of one billion dollars in the wake of his decision to join anti-gun forces who are trying to ban America's most popular rifle.

According to Ohio.com, Stack appeared on the show to promote the release of his memoir, in which he tracks the company’s evolution from a modest regional chain to one of the biggest players in the $70 billion sporting goods market.

For the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, 2019, same-store sales fell 3.1%, according to company earnings, with Stack blaming much of the slump on gun issues. Customers boycotted the company, and more than 60 employees quit.

Despite the heavy financial hit brought on by the loss of former customers, Stack seems quite intent on furthering his anti-gun agenda, including reconsidering that "drastic move" of dropping firearms sales altogether.

Again, from the CBS Sunday Morning interview:

"So many people say to me, you know, 'If we do what you want to do, it's not going to stop these mass shootings,'" said Stack. "And my response is, 'You're probably right, it won't. But if we do these things and it saves one life, don't you think it's worth it?'"

It's a sad thing that Stack seems incapable of asking himself the same question about the lives saved by guns purchased in Dick's stores and used for self-defense.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.