Walmart announces dramatic new gun policy, stops sales of handguns, ammo & more

Screengrab KY3

While insisting that Walmart remains committed to its “long heritage” of “serving responsible hunters and sportsmen and women,” the retail giant announced several changes following a pair of shootings at its stores.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a memo to employees that the company was ending the sale of handguns in Alaska and will discontinue selling ammunition for handguns nationwide, according to Business Insider —  Alaska is the only state the retailer sells handguns in.

The sale of short-barrel rifle ammunition will also be discontinued nationwide.

“After selling through our current inventory commitments, we will discontinue sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber that, while commonly used in some hunting rifles, can also be used in large capacity clips on military-style weapons,” McMillon said in the memo.

The CEO said the company understands “these decisions will inconvenience some of our customers, and we hope they will understand.”

“As a company, we experienced two horrific events in one week, and we will never be the same,” he said.

Screengrab CEO Doug McMillon – Walmart YouTube

There was the recent shooting at Walmart stores in El Paso, Texas, that claimed 22 lives, and an incident in Southaven, Miss., were two store managers were killed and two others wounded.

In addition to the changes announced above, McMillon cited recent incidents were stores have been tested to say the company is “respectfully requesting” shoppers to no longer open carry in its stores, to include Sam’s Club — the change doesn’t apply to licensed carriers of concealed weapons.

“There have been multiple incidents since El Paso where individuals attempting to make a statement and test our response have entered our stores carrying weapons in a way that frightened or concerned our associates and customers,” the CEO said. “These incidents are concerning and we would like to avoid them, so we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores or Sam’s Clubs in states where ‘open carry’ is permitted — unless they are authorized law enforcement officers.”

There appears to be some ambiguity over the policy.

A Walmart spokesman told Business Insider that going forward, store managers will have the discretion to decide how to handle open carry situations.

The business news site said store managers may ask the shopper to leave and safely secure their firearm in their vehicle before returning, although the policy could vary by location and those who open carry may not always be asked to leave the store.

McMillon told employees a letter has been sent to the White House and Congress in support of stronger gun-control measures.

“We encourage our nation’s leaders to move forward and strengthen background checks and to remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger,” he said. “We do not sell military-style rifles, and we believe the reauthorization of the Assault Weapons ban should be debated to determine its effectiveness.”

Here’s a sampling of some of the immediate responses to the announcement from Twitter:

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