Walmart aborts assault rifle sales… to focus on rifles and shotguns
Walmart has curbed the sale of high powered assault rifles in-store due to a lack of demand.
Making the announcement before Wednesday’s tragic Virginia shooting in which a “disgruntled” gunman used a handgun to shoot two of his former colleagues, the US’s largest retailer stated that it would instead shift its offerings to rifles and shotguns.
A Walmart spokesman told the New York Times that the retailer was moving away from weapons which could carry large quantities of ammunition in the one clip. He said: "It was done purely based on customer demand."
The assault rifles are not “something customers were looking for and buying when they came into our stores," according to the spokesman.
Walmart will remain the largest gun and ammunition retailer in the US despite the decision. It claimed it sold the assault rifles in nearly a third of its 4,600 stores.