Huge sporting goods chain says it will be purging and destroying assault-style weapons

by Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Monday, Apr. 16, 2018 Monday, Apr. 16, 2018 at 10:25:50am PDT

The entrance to the Dick's Sporting Goods store is seen in Glendale, California on February 28, 2018. ..Dick's, one of the nation's largest sports retailers, said February 28 that it was immediately ending sales of all assault-style rifles in its stores. The retailer also said that it would no longer sell high-capacity magazines and that it would not sell any gun to anyone under 21 years of age, regardless of local laws. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

After the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 dead, Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, inspired by the high school advocates for gun control and the knowledge that murderer Nikolas Cruz bought his weapon from a Dick’s retail outlet, announced that they would stop selling assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines. They also said that they would refuse to sell guns to individuals under the age of 21. This has led to a couple of lawsuits. But according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dick’s Sporting Goods is making sure that those weapons do not appear somewhere else.

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Typically a retailer may return unsold merchandise to the manufacturer. But in this case, Dick’s Sporting Goods has decided to destroy them.

“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.”

Well done.