美国国家公共电台 NPR Walmart Joins Dick's Sporting Goods In Tighter Limits On Gun Sales

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

One of the country's major sporting goods chains will no longer sell assault-style firearms or high-capacity magazines. Dick's Sporting Goods will also stop selling guns to consumers under the age of 21. The CEO of the company, Edward Stack, announced this new policy in an exclusive interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA")

EDWARD STACK: The systems that are in place across the board just aren't effective enough to keep us from selling someone a gun like that. And so we've decided 1 that we're not going to sell the assault-type rifles any longer.

MARTIN: NPR's Colin Dwyer has been following this, and he joins me in the studio.

Hey, Colin.

COLIN DWYER, BYLINE 2: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right, so from this interview, what else do we know went into the company's decision? What else did the CEO of Dick's say that stood out to you?

DWYER: Well, as we know, a lot of the survivors 3 from the Parkland high school shooting are actually going back to school today.

MARTIN: Yeah.

DWYER: And Stack mentioned that specifically in the interview. He said that the Parkland shooter actually bought a shotgun - it was not a weapon involved in the shooting. But he said that that nevertheless made an impact on them because that could...

MARTIN: He bought a weapon from Dick's...

DWYER: That is correct.

MARTIN: ...From a Dick's store.

DWYER: Yeah, yeah. And he said that if these kids can be brave enough to act - these survivors, we can be brave enough to take some of these guns out of our stores.

MARTIN: So here we have a major franchise 4, a sporting goods store, making this decision. I mean, what kind of an impact could this have?

DWYER: Well, Dick's is a major sporting goods retailer 5. It has more than 700 locations. We're not sure necessarily what impact it will have on other retailers 6 or on Congress. But Stacks specifically called on Congress to act in his interview. In fact, the retailer put out a list of reforms they would like to see in terms of gun control this morning.

MARTIN: We've seen other companies, in recent days, distance themselves from the NRA - and now this by Dick's Sporting Goods. Any other rumblings about any other companies, retailers who are were going to make a move in this moment?

DWYER: Well, as you mentioned, there have been a host of major retailers who have actually ended their corporate 7 relationships with the National Rifle Association in the past week. That includes Delta 8 Airlines, many rental 9 car companies, MetLife insurance. All of them have ended their corporate relationships with the NRA recently.

And toward that reason, Stack mentioned that he can foresee some backlash from guns rights activists 10. And he said that he is a Second Amendment 11 supporter himself, a gun owner himself. But he said in the end...

MARTIN: He's willing to take that risk.

DWYER: He said, in the end, he just doesn't want to be a part of this story anymore.

MARTIN: NPR's Colin Dwyer.