Nearly two months after the company announced it would no longer sell assault rifles at its stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods revealed what it will be doing with its leftover assault-style weapons stock. According to the New York Times, the retail franchise is going to destroy all of its remaining stock of unsold assault rifles, which the company has kept locked away since its February decision in response to the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported on the company’s momentous decision last week.
Walmart and other department stores cum gun retailers made similar announcements regarding sales back in February, but Dick’s is the first to go so far as to destroy its unsold stock. It’s especially unusual since, as the Post-Gazette previously pointed out, most retail businesses “return unsold merchandise to the manufacturer”:
“We are in the process of destroying all firearms and accessories that are no longer for sale as a result of our February 28th policy change,” a spokeswoman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We are destroying the firearms in accordance with federal guidelines and regulations.”
The so-called assault-style rifles will be destroyed at the company’s distribution centers and the parts sent to a salvage company to be recycled, the Findlay-based retailer added. The company did not say how much merchandise would be included.
The National Rifle Association declined to comment on either the New York Times or the Post-Gazette‘s stories. However, the prominent gun lobbyist did decry the company’s decision for “punishing law-abiding citizens” on Twitter.
.@DICKS decision isn’t focusing on the actual problem, what it is doing is punishing law-abiding citizens. What a waste, and what a strange business model. #DefendTheSecond #2A #NRA https://t.co/mUNmV6O1ot
— NRA (@NRA) April 17, 2018
(Via New York Times)