US retailers Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods to stop selling guns to customers under 21
The sporting goods company also urged lawmakers to ban assault-style firearms, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks.
United States retailers Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods on Wednesday said they will not sell firearms to people below 21. The two companies made the decision after a 19-year-old gunman opened fire in a school in Florida’s Parkland on February 14, killing 17 people.
Dick’s Sporting Goods said it had sold the Parkland gunman a shotgun in November 2017, though it was not the weapon he had used in the February 14 shooting. The company said it will now stop selling assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines.
“We never have and never will sell bump stocks that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly,” the company said. It urged lawmakers to bar assault-style firearms, high-capacity magazines and bump stocks and called for a ban on the sale of guns to people less than 21 years old.
Dick’s Sporting Goods also said the government should conduct background checks on people to evaluate their mental health and prepare a database of those banned from buying firearms.
Walmart said it had stopped selling assault-style rifles in 2015 and did not sell high-capacity firearms or bump stocks. The company added that from now on, it will “go beyond federal law” by making it mandatory for customers to pass a background check to buy guns. Walmart said it would also remove toys resembling assault-style rifles from its shelves.
Georgia teacher arrested for firing from handgun
Meanwhile, the police arrested a high school teacher in Georgia on Wednesday for barricading himself in a classroom and firing a shot from his handgun out a window, CNN reported. No one was injured in the incident.
Randal Davidson, a 53-year-old social studies teacher at Dalton High School, refused to let students into the classroom, police spokesperson Bruce Frazier said. When the school principal arrived and tried to open the lock with a key, Davidson fired out the window with his handgun.
The high school was shut down and the police arrived and arrested Davidson after negotiating with him for a while. Frazier said there was no evidence the teacher intended to fire at any person.