Walmart Pulls Assault Rifles Same Day Of Virginia Shooting, Company Insists It’s Not A Political Move

Walmart will no longer sell assault rifles, including the popular AR-15, after the company empties its current stock that currently sits on store shelves, MSN is reporting.

On the same day that a gunman shot and killed two news reporters live and on-the-air in Virginia, the big-box retailer announced the decision to pull assault rifles from store shelves. However, Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundberg, in comments made available via Yahoo News, insists the decision was an economic one, not a political one.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of demand for those products so we replaced them with products we have seen customers coming into purchase it.”

In fact, gun sales nationwide are declining across the board, both at Walmart and at other retailers: gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has suffered a 12 percent drop in sales the first half of this year, while Remington Outdoor Group has seen a 13.3 percent drop. However, from time to time, gun sales will spike, usually in the wake of a high-profile mass shooting, which will spur gun enthusiasts to purchase more guns and ammunition in fear that more gun-control legislation is forthcoming. After such spikes, sales usually return to normal levels.

And while the popular AR-15 assault rifle, as well as other assault rifles, have been used in mass shootings, they were not used in the recent Virginia shooting. The gunman in Virginia shot his victims with a handgun — a type of gun no longer sold at Walmart.

Walmart, meanwhile, remains the largest retailer of guns in the U.S., and even though the company is pulling assault rifles, it will continue to sell guns. Still, Walmart’s role as a gun retailer has lessened in recent years. Facing pressure from lawmakers and the general public, the company stopped selling handguns years ago. In some stores in certain parts of the country, guns and ammunition aren’t sold at all. And the assault rifles being pulled from store shelves in the coming weeks have only been available in about one third of Walmart locations across the U.S.

The move to pull assault rifles does not signal an end to guns being sold at Walmart. The company will continue to sell shotguns and other hunting weapons, which, in fact, are the most popular guns sold at Walmart.

Do you believe Walmart made the right decision by no longer selling assault rifles?

[Image courtesy of Shutterstock / vvoe]