Walmart sets age of 21 to buy firearms and ammunition

NEW YORK (AP) -- Walmart says it will no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21.
 
The retailer's new policy comes after Dick's Sporting Goods announced earlier Wednesday that it would restrict the sale of firearms to those under 21 years old. It didn't mention ammunition. 

Walmart says the decision came after a review of its firearm sales policy in light of the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. 

Walmart Inc. stopped selling AR-15 guns, and other semi-automatic weapons in 2015. 

It doesn't sell bump stocks, the accessory attached to a semi-automatic gun that makes it easier to fire rounds faster. It also doesn't sell large-capacity magazines. 
 
The retailer says it is also removing items resembling assault-style rifles from its website. 

The news comes on the heels of Dick's Sporting Goods' announcement it will stop selling assault style rifles and ban the sales of all guns to anyone under 21. 

The company's CEO announced it Wednesday,demanding tougher gun laws after the massacre in Florida, defying the NRA.

The strongly worded announcement from the nationwide store chain came as students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, returned to class for the first time since a teenager killed 17 students and educators with an AR-15 rifle two weeks ago.

“When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of the parents and the kids who were killed in Parkland, we felt we needed to do something,” Chairman and CEO Ed Stack said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

The change in sales practices, and the emphatic words from Stack, put Dick’s out front in the falling-out between corporate America and the gun lobby. Several major corporations, including MetLife, Hertz and Delta Air Lines, have cut ties with the NRA since the Florida tragedy, but until now, none were retailers that sold guns.

The announcement drew hundreds of thousands of responses for and against on the company’s Facebook page.

The news comes on the heels of Dick's Sporting Goods' announcement it will stop selling assault style rifles and ban the sales of all guns to anyone under 21. 

The company's CEO announced it Wednesday,demanding tougher gun laws after the massacre in Florida, defying the NRA.

The strongly worded announcement from the nationwide store chain came as students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, returned to class for the first time since a teenager killed 17 students and educators with an AR-15 rifle two weeks ago.

“When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of the parents and the kids who were killed in Parkland, we felt we needed to do something,” Chairman and CEO Ed Stack said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

The change in sales practices, and the emphatic words from Stack, put Dick’s out front in the falling-out between corporate America and the gun lobby. Several major corporations, including MetLife, Hertz and Delta Air Lines, have cut ties with the NRA since the Florida tragedy, but until now, none were retailers that sold guns.

The announcement drew hundreds of thousands of responses for and against on the company’s Facebook page.