Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc, one of the US’s largest sports retailers, is ending the sale of all assault weapons in its stores in the wake of the recent massacre at a high school in Florida. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said the company would no longer sell assault-style firearms or high-capacity magazines, and would impose a ban on sales of guns to those under age 21. “We’re taking these guns out of all of our stores permanently,” Stack said. Pennsylvania-based Dick’s is one of the nation’s largest gun sellers and sells weapons through its Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream stores.

Stack said the decision was inspired in part by the revelation that the 19-year-old Parkland high school shooter purchased a weapon at a Dick’s store. The firearm – a shotgun – was not used in the shooting. “We did everything by the book. We did everything that the law required, and still he was able to buy a gun. And when we looked at that, we said the systems that are in place across the board just aren’t effective enough to keep us from selling a gun like that,” Stack said. “And so we’ve decided we’re not going to sell the assault-type rifles any longer.”(theguardian)…[+]