As a long standing member of a large gun club for many years, an NRA member, because that is a requirement for the club membership, and a 20 year military veteran, I applaud your move. It’s about time someone take a stand before the killing of children and others becomes a national sport. Furthermore, the NRA does not represent my views and those of many members. Ole Wayne is a belligerent antagonist and needs to go so that the organization can return to its founding mission, that of firearm safety and the enjoyment of the shooting shorts. Americans have to evolve.
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@Bruce It's nice to hear sanity from a gun owner and sportsman.
Why is it that you seem to understand very well that background checks or limiting war weapons is very different from "taking away all guns" or "taking away the 2nd amendment"?
I am constantly amazed how the rabid gun culture doesnt or wont make the distinction.
I am not a gun owner, but I support the 2nd amendment, just not the right for AR's or AK's to be sold to anyone but the military.
Every single mass shooting was done by one of these automatic or semi automatic weapons designed to kill in war that sportsmen and hunters dont need to have.
2
@Bruce Thank you for being a man of conscience and principle. For too long the belligerent few have beat their chests with the macho-male crowd promoting a daily slaughter about 100 persons unknown to them together with an average of about two hundred of our fellow citizens seriously injured. Many are crippled for the rest of their lives. Having had my baptism of fire on 1/8/11 in front of a peaceful suburban Safeway store the statistics of that shooting never ceases to amaze me. 33 rounds fired in just 19.6 seconds from a Glock pistol ended the lives of six human beings, including a Federal Judge John Roll, 9 year old Christina Green, Gabe Zimmerman and three seniors like myself. Thirteen of us were wounded, some still bearing the effects. The 18th century law intended to create militias to put down slave rebellions does not keep us safer nowadays. 2A enables a cynical gun industry to crank out and vend weapons of war to a not consistently responsible or sane population. If campaign finance laws are not reinstated then the tragic expense of lives lost and lifetimes of crippling limitations and pain will continue. The lobbyists will continue to pay congress to stop common sense gun laws and we will not have the freedom to feel secure in public spaces.
Mr. McMillon has done the right thing. He is more of a leader than Mr. Trump, and almost GOP member of Congress and the Senate. Kudos to him.
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Thank you Walmart for taking the first step into the water. Now come along children, everyone in the pool.
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Thank you, Walmart for taking leadership and setting an example for other businesses. Congress should be ashamed for failing to protect Americans.
4
The Walmart response to “open carry” was especially weak. After noting that shoppers are often frightened by people carrying guns through the aisles, Walmart says: “we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores...” A ‘check your guns at the door’ policy would provide a better shopping experience for everyone else. And what more does Walmart need to learn about reinstating the 1994 federal assault weapons ban?
1
Should the credit card companies really be harassed and shamed into being tools of leftist policy? If anybody on the right did this about abortion or just about anything you would be apoplectic. Winds change very quickly so be careful what you wish for.
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@Shaggy I believe Amex refuses to process transactions it considers to be immoral from a Christian perspective. I suppose a few people are apoplectic, but I’m not aware of significant protests, but possibly that’s because you can just use Visa/MasterCard.
"We want what's best for our customers." What's best for his customers includes not getting shot. Why do people worship the 2nd Amendment when it was conceived in a world where it took 5 minutes to load a bullet in a gun where you'd probably miss the target anyway?
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A few days after the mass shootings, I was shopping in a Walmart located in a small New England town I was visiting. Although I'd been in that Walmart hundreds of times over the past 30 years, it was the first time I stopped in my tracks and thought, "Oh my God, I'm in a Walmart, just a few days after a mass shooting. Gotta go."
I have a feeling that this tough longtime New Yorker is not alone in that reaction. I also have more than a feeling that Walmart saw all the outraged social media posts about its ubiquitous gun departments, which then led to reduced traffic in their stores (that I'm-not-safe-here feeling), and ultimately gave in to the firm's crisis management advisers (with the approval of its finance team) that it was time to do something about the guns or risk poor same-store sales results this quarter and those following.
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Thank you for this, Mr. Sorkin. Regarding the question that was posed to you about whether big business ought to be stepping in where government fails to act, I'd like to point out that as a volunteer in an organization that seeks to help the homeless and reduce homeless populations, there are many occasions in which the government fails to act and the onus falls on society to try to do something about it - case in point: my organization. Why shouldn't big business, which have the resources at the ready, step in? Of course they should.
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I suggest all of you educate yourself, about the Second Amendment. You will not infringe upon my rights or others. We will unite by the millions to uphold the dignity, integrity, and Honor this country was founded on.
The problem is not GUNS! Its is a mental problem! But ignorance will not accept the facts!
A good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy, with a gun. FBI statistics prove it.
The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the individual right to keep and bear arms.[1][2][a] It was ratified on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights.[3][4][5]
In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed for the first time that the right belongs to individuals, for self-defense in the home,[6][7][8][9] while also including, as dicta, that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude the existence of certain long-standing prohibitions such as those forbidding "the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill" or restrictions on "the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons."[10][11] State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing upon this right.[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
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Thanks: we’re already aware of this. And that’s why I repeatedly say it’s time to repeal the Second Amendment. Gun ownership must be a privilege, not a right. You can’t drive a car without showing the government you can do it responsibly: go n ownership should be the same way.
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Nobody is outlawing guns. Get past that and stop talking about it!
They are suggesting VISA help out our boys in blue by letting them know when outstanding purchases occur. Law enforcement WANTS this assistance to help keep us safe!
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@BWP
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I love the way you ignore the part about a well regulated militia. I think that if people would be required to be part of a well regulated militia, it would require background checks, age requirement, licensing, training and the types of weapons and rounds of ammunition that could be used. I have never owned a gun and have never felt the need to own one. I feel more insecure about all of the guns that people are allowed to obtain through private sales. There are many people who are the “good guy with the gun,” but they were not able to stop any of these mass shootings.
5
For similar reasons I switched my patronage to CVS from Walgreens after CVS stopped selling tobacco products, another legal product but mass killer. Now CVS just needs to up their customer-service game.
Can Walmart be far behind with tobacco and vape product bans? They took a step in the right direction by raising the minimum age for purchases. But its chief competitor Target (which now contains CVS pharmacies) hasn’t sold tobacco for decades.
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Thank you, Mr. Sorkin, for your impressive and impassioned letter of Aug. 5. You have planted a seed that has begun to germinate. Congratulations!
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Here's a big clue : I refuse to enter any Store that sells Guns OR Ammunition. And I will not buy online from them, either. Imagine if 50 million of us did the same. Just say NO.
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How about Starbucks? Are you listening, Howard Schulz? Nobody wants guns with their latte's!
3
Thank goodness someone is taking a leadership role in this country. Good on Walmart and I hope other CEO’s follow. Good on Doug McMillon.
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I believe that Dicks Sporting Goods stopped selling assault rifles after the Parkland shooting. Additionally, as of this March, they removed guns from 125 stores. Walmart can continue to help by removing all fire arms and ammunition.
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To laud Walmart for this move in the hopes that others will follow forgets that Dicks Sporting Goods was the first company to really do something. Yes, Walmart is bigger but they do not get credit for being the first because they aren't.
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From the piece: "Mr. Kelly and other chief executives might want to study Mr. McMillon’s example. He has chosen not (sic) sell certain products even though they are legal."
Is the piece a news article or an opinion? If a news piece, then from above, it is an example of advocacy journalism.
Even those who support gun control should push back, because soon, the technique could be used to go after something they cherish.
@Steve Brown Yes, this is an opinion piece written by an op-ed columnist. Any headline with "should" in it can usually be interpreted as opinion rather than straight news. Just to clear that up.
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Thank you Walmart for at least taking the first steps to stop the madness that has embraced the right wing gun culture in this country. This people who are absolutist on gun rights wold rather have dead kids bleeding out in the streets than to have any restriction on their ability to own any weapon they want to. They behave like children, and do not take the responsibility required to own weapons of war. If you want to own a lightweight infantry combat weapon.... Enlist!
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How can we get together here in Austin to support and amplify this message?
2
I never shop at Walmart but today they join Dick's Sporting Goods on my list of companies moving in the right direction on gun control that will get my business.
Hopefully this is only the beginning with the end being the stop the sale of guns and ammunition at all commercial outlets that now currently sell these weapons of mass destruction.
So, where is McConnell on this issue? Still in the back pocket of the NRA?
To instill one man with the power to block gun control legislation is obscene!
Corporate leaders speak up and stop profiting from those who would turn their guns on innocent victims. You have the power to do that.
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When will Walmart also fess up to its history as a driver of sprawl development and a destroyer of local downtowns?
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The Walmart CEO should now pay their employees a living wage so the American taxpayers don't have to support their employees food budgets with food stamps.
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Where was his concern, PRIOR to having one of his stores shot up?
They never care, until they are affected.
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@John Vesper he said it's temp by next year we are suppose to add handguns to all store
BIG news, Sorkin!
Dick's Sporting Goods stopped ALL gun sales at many stores.
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Thank you Walmart. I will go into a Walmart now - something I have not done for years.
You have gained a customer.
I hope other businesses will follow your example. And soon.
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Walmart’s decision is not based on an altruistic notion, it’s strictly business. It’s not good for business to have customers in your stores being shot up. I’m ok with the reason though, whatever it takes to rid ourselves of this scourge.
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Walmart has done the responsible thing, and I hope that the company’s leadership results in meaningful background checks on gun sales and a reinstatement of the federal assault weapons ban.
It is striking, though, that Republican members of the House and Senate won’t take action to curb gun violence until corporate leaders speak out. It’s obvious that, to GOP politicians, corporate “people” are far more important than their actual constituents.
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I am frequently a critic of Walmart’s labor policies, but I am all applause at Walmart’s new positions on gun sales.
Kudos to Walmart’s leadership for taking this important step. I hope that other retailers will do the same.
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What if is a marketing ploy?
I will bite.
Dick’s Sporting Goods stopped selling assault-style weapons after the Parkland shooting, and in doing so, they gained a customer in me. I go there now for running shoes, hiking gear, and other sporting needs. Theirs was a first step, followed by small steps, of removing guns completely from many of their stores. This isn’t as far as I would like them to go, but I am going to thank them with my business for each step ahead.
This move by Walmart gives me similarly hopeful vibes. I am sure they sell household items I need- lightbulbs, plants for my garden. I will reward them with my business.
Yes, they are not solving the mass-shooting problem entirely, but they show more leadership, and more willingness to help, than our federal government does.
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I'm glad Sorking encouraged Mr. McMillon to make some positive moves on gun violence. Mr. Kelly and other chief executives might want to study the west Texas waitress I met in 1978. I ate breakfast in her diner, a small place in the middle of nowhere. Two knuckleheads walked in packing pistols, and the waitress politely said they need to leave their weapons in the car. They got a couple whiney words about their "rights", but the waitress wasn't having any of it. She snapped back they could sit there all day, but she'll never serve them until if they put their guns away. Like teenagers, they bowed their heads and meekly said they'd return to eat without their weapons since that's their only option. I wish there were more people like that west Texas waitress who demand people in open carry states leave their weapons in the car or at home.
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This article and the piece in today's edition on Unilever's Paul Polman are terrific companion pieces on the power a chief executive can bring to bear -- should he/she choose.
To quote Mr. Polman, "C.E.O.s are basically good people. There are no C.E.O.s who want more unemployment, or more people going to bed hungry, or more air pollution. But then why collectively do we behave so miserably? It’s because we spend too much time on dealing with the impacts and not with the underlying causes."
In light of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell's intransigence on guns, and Trump and the EPA's litany of environmental crimes (as I was typing this, they rolled back regulations on energy-efficient light bulbs!), the private sector will have to exert its influence with greater voice and impact. And who has more leverage than C.E.O.'s?
To the readers who lament that Mr. McMillon could do more, yes that's true, but he could also do nothing. It would be a fine day indeed if his actions, and those of Mr. Polman, mark the beginning of a new era of socially responsible C.E.O activism.
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Yes its not far enough, buts lets think of this move as "cup half full" rather than "half empty". Its most definitely a start.
9
Virtue signaling conflated with legal strategy to reduce liability risk exposure.
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@MGD If it reduces even one gun death, I'm fine with that.
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Thank you Mr. McMillon for taking these steps!!!
Now it's time for Washington to step up to the plate. Come on GOP lead Senate. Start listing to the public and not the NRA.
5
What Walmart did should be an example for all other large chain stores to do the same.Gun manufacturers and the NRA use the 2nd amendment as an EXCUSE to fill their own pockets. It is greed that drives them, while 100 people are killed with guns EVERY DAY in the US!
I cannot find any sane reason for citizens to own an AR-15, AK-47 and large magazines...100 bullets to kill a deer or an elk? Give me a break!
10
Target doesn’t sell guns. Kohl’s doesn’t sell guns. Macy’s doesn’t sell guns...
Walmart, while doing the right thing, isn’t leading here. They’re falling in line.
1
For those negatively commenting on Walmart for not doing enough, at least they are doing something. It's a small step, but at least it's in the right direction. Maybe it will lead to them eventually not selling guns at all. Yes, they are watching their bottom line, but if the end result is positive for society, then that's the main thing that matters.
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@Richard Walmart is only worrying about their bottom line, damage to their stores, lawsuits, and that people stop shopping at Walmart due to fear. They aren't motivated to care about gun violence since 1 out of every 3 bullets sold in the US was sold at Walmart and there have been mass shootings for years now while they profited.
5
In a related story, Costco will stop selling premium gas to combat automobile deaths.
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@George Orwell
Come on, you can at least write a sensible comparison instead of a petty, snarky comment. Give them credit for taking action. We still have a long way to go and many more to stand up and resist.
5
@CM Wrong. Guns are not violent, people are. My guns are safely laying there right now and they're not being violent to anyone. It takes a sick person to want to kill others and they can do so in many ways. If a sick person doesn't have a gun, they can think of other ways and they can even attain a gun illegally. Do you know what else is illegal? Herion, acid, speeding, touching your phone while driving (some states) and so much more. The the whole line of thinking is so off in many people that they're missing the whole point. I don't like the term 'mental health problem', but people who want to kill others are wrong in their own head. They have likely grown up in homes where they are neglected, felt unloved, abused, or the wires are just messed up.
Since we're talking about gun deaths, did you know that in 2017, 10,874 people died from drunk drivers and 403 from rifles? But we don't dare ban alcohol because why?
Walmart's policies are commendable. But what a sad commentary on gun control that we have to rely on retailers to do what government should.
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Walmart's C.E.O. actions don't make him the 2nd Coming of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma K. Gandhi.
Giving up the right to sell certain types of arms and ammunition is a very calculated clever limited marketing and sales move that will not happen until the current inventory runs out.
4
Mr. Sorkin is getting a little overexcited about the policies Wal-Mart is adopting. The company has good corporate reasons for these symbolic gestures due to the shooting at their store in El Paso. They can't simply ignore that this happened on their property. But, there is no reason to target any other entity in "corporate America", just to try to make the gun control crowd happy. Because these shootings are simply a problem of modern society, and trying to make it all about guns and the trade in them isn't going to solve it.
1
I know a priest in Lewes De who supports the NRA/Trump and all their yearly tax breaks. The NRA said yesterday that it was shameful for Walmart to stop the sales of any guns and bullets. This is the shame full evil the 2 amendment created and we need to abolish it now before it wipes out our democracy and the free world as we know it. No civilians need to own guns or bullets. Especially in the highest mass murder state of Texas.
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@D.j.j.k. I live here in Texas,as a transplant, it's very difficult now with the string of slaughters, yes, slaughters. Sutherland Springs, Sant Fe, El Paso, Odessa. We had an attempted shooting at a Popeye's because they ran out of Chicken Sandwiches! OdessaShooter got his gun through a loophole that should've been closed by a bill sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk. We are scared to go into areas where there are alot of people. Greg Abbott is an NRA supporter as well as John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell. OdessaShooter shouldn't have had access to a weapon, this has to stop.
10
Why would a civilian need a gun? My husband periodically has to shoot rattlesnakes. He coaches a men's rugby team and the field is on the edge of town. Meter readers also run into rattlesnakes periodically. I'm not a hunter, but hunting rifles are a legitimate item for a civilian to own. For home defense, a shotgun could be useful. You don't have to be able to aim well to hit your target with one.
However, I do agree that there's no reason for a civilian to own something primarily designed to kill people. I would be happy to see assault-style weapons banned. I also think thorough background checks, waiting periods, registration, and education are all good ideas.
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@D.j.j.k.
Unlike our urban setting, where police response is minutes away, the reality is a lot of people live in rural areas where response times for police or EMS is a lot longer. Thus, many so situated feel that they are their own first line of defense.
Additionally, though I’m not a hunter, or recreational skeet or target shooter I recognize that many Americans are.
3
Mr. McConnell, Senate Republican leader said, "he will not put a gun bill of any kind on the Senate floor unless President Donald Trump says he would sign it into law". Mr. Trump 's response would be : "he will not sign a gun bill unless Senate introduces and passes a gun bill that he can sign it into law". Chicken and egg game over lives of people!
5
THE FAULT LIES WITH US AS VOTERS. The politicians in Washington ARE the ones responsible for solving the crisis. And WE are the ones who are electing them.
CEO's are not equipped to solve social problems. CEO's run companies and pay taxes to fund social budgets. Their power is rightly limited to their commercial activities, but that makes them ineffective in solving social problems.
We need to fix the sleazy, self-dealing political class.
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@zhen There is also a problem with uneducated people adding their opinions to gun laws. We can't all be an expert in everything and so many people get a trickle of information, usually scary news articles, about guns that they speak out like they're experts. Its unfortunate that people don't get an unbias education first. Guns are used for so many things that are relevant and important.
Thank you for the piece on Mr. McMillon's courageous decision regarding guns. By focusing on specific solutions to different aspects of the gun problem, he makes it easier for others to take similar, effective, steps
One issue that has always bothered me about the American gun discussion is the way proponents of reasonable gun control confuse the issue by focusing on vague generalities like "assault type" or "AR15 style" weapons. The major physical enablers of mass casualties are things like high capacity magazines, bump stocks and bi-action triggers, not the way a gun looks or the fact that the guns used in the shootings are, like most traditional hunting rifles, semi automatic: it is the presence of high capacity magazines that makes the difference.
The .223 caliber round in an AR15-style Bushmaster has a muzzle velocity and kinetic energy that is equivalent to the traditional 30-06 caliber deer hunting rifle. The reason we don't see mass shootings with a deer gun is that it only has six rounds in its magazine, not because the AR15-style rifle is fundamentally different.
If we focused the discussion on the things that really matter, like Mr. McMillian did, we might be able to make some progress.
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@A Patriot
Finally some real thought here! Some of the cosmetic features which contribute to weapons being identified as "Assault weapons" have absolutely no influence on the functionality of a gun at all. It may make them appear to be intimidating but has no effect on it's lethality.
Shotguns used for waterfowl hunting (ducks, geese) have been restricted to three rounds for as long as I can remember and before that a double barreled over and under or side by side was the norm. Bolt action hnting rifles are inherently more accurate than other types of rifles, thus their dominant use for hunting but as A Patriot has said, they commonly carry more than between 3-5 rounds.
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Thank you! I have been trying to
Make the point for years that just because a gun looks “military” isn’t a reason to ban it. High capacity magazines are the primary culprit, as are bump-stocks and high velocity ammunition. Duck hunters have been limited to three round capacities for years with no problems (since the ducks don’t shoot back, there’s no need to lots of ammo in the gun).
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@A Patriot— Thank you for your detailed discussion of gun design, ammunition, bump stocks and magazines.
Knowledge such as yours is essential to crafting a responsible solution to gun violence.
1
Walmart’s actions here should be applauded. As the seller of roughly 20% of the nation’s firearms, the company’s actions will actually have a meaningful impact. Given the cowardice of most of our nation’s legislators and the POTUS in the face of a mere sideways glance from Wayne LaPierre, it is heartening to know that some people are willing to take meaningful steps - even if it costs them financially - toward making our country a little safer. Walmart’s position might just get the attention of Congress, which is no small thing when we know that they don’t care about the views of the majority of the population.
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@Kristi Actually, it may make money for Walmart because they will be looked at in a more positive fashion. The majority of folks want more sensible gun laws and by doing this, Walmart is siding with the majority.
8
Thank you
3
Of mixed thoughts on this, and of the concept of corporations taking political stands of any nature in general. In the case of Walmart, they do have a direct involvement in this highly charged issue as they actually sell firearms and ammunition. Thus they are free to decide to end, further restrict or even maintain such sales as they deem appropriate and in consideration of a host of elements. In this case, personally I feel they made the correct decision.
As for Visa, however, people are stretching too far by demanding that they stop allowing payment for legal weapon/ammunition transactions. Visa is merely a payment mechanism, not the purveyor of goods. I doubt that those making this demand would be so sanguine if credit card companies decided to start assessing a host of other purchases - porn? marijuana/CBD? birth control? liquor? cigarettes? donations to the "wrong" causes? buying a sandwich at Chick-fil-a? Where would it end? So long as the transactions are for legal merchandise, services, etc., we should not allow a credit company to make "moral judgements" for us as a back door way to get what some want to achieve and can't do otherwise.
11
On behalf of all beings, the future of this democracy experiment, and common sense, thank you!
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If Visa won't sign on I'm thinking of switching to any other credit card that will refuse gun and ammunition sales.
5
@MBH Do it!
@MBH Its irrelevant. If my visa didn't work for a purchase, I'd use cash.
Walmart could stop selling guns entirely, couldn't they? Home Depot doesn't sell them. Best Buy doesn't sell them. Nordstrom doesn't sell them. Really, there is no reason that Walmart has to sell them, either. Walmart could decide that guns are not the business they're in, just like these other chains.
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@macduff15
It's true. I don't think of Walmart as a sporting goods store. I don't know why they are in the gun business at all. Perhaps that will be the next step--guns only for sale at gun shops-not in box stores, online or gun shows.
4
@Hope. Sam Walton started Walmart as a gun store. He was an avid hunter. That is why they sell guns.
5
Walmart could ban all gun sales, but I think that it’s fine that the company continues to sell guns targeted to responsible hunting and sporting activities.
2
McMillon's desire to share the technology behind their firearms sales processes deserves a big round of applause. What would also be great is if he, representing America's largest retailer of firearms, worked with outside data IT professionals to improve the interoperability of such a system even more before it's passed on to others.
11