December 18, 2012

Large store chains responded to the Sandy Hook massacre by suspending sales or pulling ads of semiautomatic rifles, similar to the one used last Friday. Gun stores are under intense pressure from the massive outcry against assault rifles after last week's massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

Large stores are responding by either suspending sales or pulling ads of semiautomatic rifles similar to the one used by Adam Lanza last Friday at Sandy Hook elementary school that killed 20 children and six adults. Some smaller stores, though, are holding tight.

The sports retailer Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS,Fortune 500) said it has suspended the sale of certain semiautomatic rifles from its 511 stores in 44 states "out of respect for the victims and their families." Dick's also said in a statement that it has removed all guns from its store near Newtown.

The retailer did not say if this is the first time it has taken such a measure, or how long the suspension will last. A search on the retailer's website on Tuesday for "modern sporting rifles," as the retailer calls them, led to a blank page.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) took down a listing on its website Monday for a semiautomatic assault rifle from the same maker as the Bushmaster AR-15, that was used by Lanza. In July, James Holmes used a similar semiautomatic rifle at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, to kill 12 people and injure 58 others.

David Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the Bushmaster gun was not for sale online and the web listing contained directions for the nearest store where it could be purchased. The ad was pulled because of sensitivity to the Newtown massacre, Tovar said.

Similar assault rifles, including the Bushmaster, continue to be available for sale at over 1,200 Wal-Mart stores where guns are sold.

"We have not made any changes to the assortment of guns we sell," Tovar said.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/18/news/wal-mart-dicks-guns-connecticut/