Dick’s Literally Destroying AR-15 Inventory Instead of Selling Back to Manufacturers
Top CEO Goes All-In On Gun Control... Major Retailer Refuses Sales Of AR-15s
By Will Racke
April 16, 2018 at 12:24pm
Dick’s Sporting Goods no longer sells AR-15-style rifles at any of its stores, and soon its unsold inventory of the much-vilified firearms won’t be available anywhere else.
Instead of returning them to their manufacturers, Dick’s will destroy its entire stock of unsold AR-15s, the company said Monday.
“We are in the process of destroying all firearms and accessories that are no longer for sale as a result of our February 28th policy change,” a Dick’s spokeswoman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“We are destroying the firearms in accordance with federal guidelines and regulations.”
Pennsylvania-based Dick’s, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, stopped selling AR-15-style rifles in February in response to the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.
The company had previously removed the rifles from the shelves of its Dick’s-branded stores but continued to offer them at its 35 Field & Stream retail locations.
Parkland shooter Nicholas Cruz had purchased a gun from a Dick’s store, though not the AR-15-style rifle he used in the massacre.
Still, CEO Edward Stack worried that “it could have been” the case.
Following the decision to pull modern sporting riles from Field & Stream stores, it was unclear what Dick’s would do with the weapons it held in inventory.
Typically, a retailer like Dick’s can return unsold merchandise to the manufacturer for a refund or a credit.
Instead, Dick’s has decided to destroy the rifles at the company’s distribution centers.
The company will send the parts to a salvage company to be recycled, the Post-Gazette reported.
The company did not say how many rifles would be destroyed.
In addition to its policy on AR-15 sales, Dick’s said in February it would stop selling high capacity magazines or sell firearms to anyone under 21 years old. The company is facing two lawsuits over the additional age restriction.
Poster Comment:
Maybe Dick's can afford to lose not only customers but also flush all that inventory down the tubes.
If they own Field and Stream stores it would be an excellent idea to boycott them too.
I say, Don't be a Dick. ;)