Walmart and Dick’s Raise Minimum Age for Gun Buyers to 21
March 1, 2018 by admin
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A day earlier, President Trump met at the White House with a bipartisan group of lawmakers and called for a series of gun control measures, some of which the National Rifle Association has vigorously opposed.
Walmart and Dick’s acted after a number of major companies moved last week to dissociate themselves from the N.R.A. Hertz car rental, MetLife insurance and Delta Air Lines, among others, publicly ended their relationships with the organization.
In a news release late Wednesday, Walmart noted that in 2015 it discontinued the sale of high-powered rifles, including AR-15-style weapons, in its stores in the United States. But at the time, Walmart sidestepped any controversy involving gun politics, attributing its decision to lower customer demand for the military-style rifles.
This time, Walmart directly linked its action to the shooting in Florida, saying, “In light of recent events, we’ve taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales.”
Top Walmart executives made the decision and then informed the board, a company spokesman said.
Walmart sells guns in roughly half of its nearly 4,000 supercenters, the company said, but the sheer scale of its customer base gives its decision significant heft. Every week, more than 150 million people shop at Walmarts around the country.
Dick’s decision was announced by Edward Stack, the 63-year-old chief executive whose father founded the store in 1948. Mr. Stack made clear that he was deliberately steering his company directly into the storm over gun reform.
“When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset,” Mr. Stack said in an interview. “We love these kids and their rallying cry, ‘Enough is enough.’ It got to us.”
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He added, “We’re going to take a stand and step up and tell people our view and, hopefully, bring people along into the conversation.”
The decision drew immediate — and passionate — reaction on social media. By midday, the number of Twitter messages containing Dick’s name had jumped 12,000 percent from the average over the previous 10 days, according to Sprout Social, a social media management, advocacy and analytics software platform.
Graphic
With AR-15s, Mass Shooters Attack With the Rifle Firepower Typically Used by Infantry Troops
When a gunman walked into a Florida school on Feb. 14, his rifle let him fire in much the same way that many American soldiers and Marines would fire M16 and M4 rifles in combat.
About 79 percent of the tweets had a positive sentiment, Sprout Social said, including supportive messages from Hollywood actors and actresses.
But the company’s critics posted their plans to no longer shop at the retailer, some closing their tweets with “#boycott.”
Investors did not appear to worry about a backlash, as Dick’s stock spent much of Wednesday trading about 1.8 percent higher before finishing up 0.69 percent.
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Mr. Stack said Dick’s hoped to move the conversation beyond social media and into the political realm. As part of its stance, the company is calling on elected officials to pass what it called “common sense gun reform”: raising the minimum age to buy guns to 21, banning assault-type weapons and so-called bump stocks, and conducting broader background checks that include mental-health information and previous interactions with law enforcement.
This is not the first time that Dick’s has made changes in response to a school massacre. In 2012, after a gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dick’s removed assault-style rifles from its main stores. But a few months later, the company began carrying the firearms at its outdoor and hunting retail chain, Field Stream.
As of Wednesday morning, the company said, AR-15-style and other semiautomatic rifles will no longer be sold in its 35 Field Stream stores or on its websites. And this time, Mr. Stack added, the changes will be permanent.
Mr. Stack said the retailer had begun scouring its purchase records shortly after the identity of the suspected Parkland killer, Nikolas Cruz, became known. The company soon discovered that it had legally sold a gun to Mr. Cruz in November, though it was not the type used in the school shooting.
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“But it came to us that we could have been a part of this story,” Mr. Stack said. “We said, ‘We don’t want to be a part of this any longer.’”
That response raised rounds of discussions with the company’s top executives and its directors, all of whom backed the decision to take a stand, Mr. Stack said.
He said Dick’s remained a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and would continue to sell a variety of sport and hunting firearms. Although he has never been a member of the N.R.A., Mr. Stack said, he is a gun owner and enjoys trapshooting.
But when it comes to selling guns to individuals under 21 or stocking assault-style rifles, Mr. Stack said, his company is done. “We don’t want to be a part of a mass shooting,” he said.
The company said that it had not decided what to do with ts inventory of assault-style rifles but that they would not be sold in the marketplace.
Legal experts said they saw no likely challenges to Dick’s decision to stop selling assault-style rifles. But the decision to stop selling weapons to anyone under 21, however, could be tested in court.
Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at the School of Law of the University of California, Los Angeles, said Dick’s could be challenged in lawsuits claiming a violation of laws that bar age discrimination. Although federal civil rights laws do not apply, some states, including New York, prohibit businesses from denying goods and services on the basis of age.
“Don’t be surprised if an aggressive attorney general of a gun-friendly state brings an age-discrimination claim against Dick’s,” Professor Winkler wrote in an email response to questions.
The company said that it believed its decision was in accordance with the law and that it was instituting the policy immediately.
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Georgia teacher in custody after allegedly opening fire in classroom, police say
March 1, 2018 by admin
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Teacher allegedly fires gun in classroom, taken into custody
Raw video: Police spokesperson Bruce Frazier updates media on incident at Dalton High School in Georgia where a teacher allegedly barricaded himself in a classroom before opening fire.
A teacher has been taken into custody after allegedly firing at least one shot inside a Georgia high school classroom Wednesday, police said.
The Dalton Police Department identifed the teacher as Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, a social studies teacher who also does play-by-play announcements during the school’s football games. He has been employed with the school since 2004.
The teacher involved in this morning’s incident is Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, social studies teacher. Also serves as play by play voice of the Dalton football team.
— Dalton Police (@DaltonPD) February 28, 2018
Davidson was charged with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a gun during commission of a crime and disrupting public school, police said in a tweet.
Jesse Randal Davidson has been charged with aggravated assault, carrying weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of gun during commission of a crime, and disrupting public school.
— Dalton Police (@DaltonPD) February 28, 2018
The department earlier tweeted a person, believed to be a teacher, was barricaded inside a classroom. The person allegedly would not allow students into the room, police said.
Dalton High School was placed on lockdown and police confirmed no children were in any danger and there weren’t any students inside the classroom at the time of the incident, they said. The school and the area surrounding it were evacuated.
Police said Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, was the teacher involved in Wednesday’s incident.
(Dalton Public Schools)
During an afternoon news conference, Dalton High School Principal Steve Bartoo said he was notified of the situation around 11:40 a.m. After arriving to the area of the building, he said students were being shuffled into another classroom and he was told that Davidson wasn’t letting anyone in.
Bartoo said he tried to go inside the classroom but Davidson slammed the door in his face and told him to “go away.”
One student sustained an ankle injury Wednesday following an incident at Dalton High School.
(AP)
The school resource officer, who was off-campus at a nearby middle school, was called, the principal said, and other students were moved from a nearby classroom.
After that, Bartoo said he tried again to enter the classroom, this time putting his key in the door and announcing himself, only to have it slammed on him again. He said Davidson told him not to come in and said “I have a gun.”
The school was immediately placed under threat lockdown mode and shortly after, Bartoo said he heard a gunshot. He added that it seemed like only minutes before officers arrived to the school. Students were moved and part of the hallway was evacuated before police ultimately told them to clear out the entire school, the principal said.
Police did not say what type of firearm was used but confirmed it was a handgun. The gun has been recovered.
One student was injured after sustaining an ankle injury while running inside the school during the building evacuation, the Dalton Police Department tweeted. No faculty or staff were reported injured in the incident.
Bartloo said he has known Davidson since he was employed by the district and described him as an “excellent teacher” who was “well thought of.” When asked if this event was a surprise, the principal said, “absolutely.”
“Certainly shocking … probably shock any school principal if one of their staff members pulled out a gun in a classroom and fired it,” Bartloo said.
Asst. Chief Cliff Cason of the Dalton Police Department said authorities are currently aware of one shot going off and that it was fired through the classroom window and went outside the building.
Davidson was taken into custody and brought to Whitfield County Jail, Cason said.
He added that the teacher would face “appropriate charges because this is a very egregious act that took place at the school.”
Cason commended the work of the school resource officer, who he said convinced Davidson to surrender to authorities, as well as the school for their response to the situation. He called their execution of the lockdown “flawless.”
“Our job would not have nearly been as easy to execute today if it weren’t for how well they did in doing their lockdown drill,” Cason said.
The school has about 2,000 students, according to their website.
Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta.