Walmart to stop selling rifle rifle ammunition
3. September (Reuters) – Walmart Inc said on Tuesday it would wind up selling some ammunition in stores across the United States in response to the mass shooting in Texas last month that killed more people.
The largest US arms dealers also said it would suspend the sale of guns in Alaska, the only state where it sells those weapons.
Walmart will stop selling short-barrel rifled ammunition of .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber after emptying its current stock. While this type of ammunition is often used in some hunting rifles, they are also used in high-capacity military-style clips, the company said.
Sales of small arms ammunition will also be liquidated, it says.
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The dealer, who has been under pressure to changing the gun sales guidelines, it said it took action after the death of 31 people in mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, one of which took place in a Walmart store.
Just last month, Walmart asked U.S. employees to take down signs and playable demonstrations of violent video games, but made no changes to the policy of selling firearms.
"As a company, we experienced two horrific events in a week, and we will never be the same," CEO Doug McMillon said in a letter to Walmart's employees.
However, the dealer said that it would continue to accommodate hunting and sport shooters, selling long barrel reels and shotguns.
The company added that recent actions will reduce the market share of ammunition from around 20% to an area of between 6% and 9%.
"We think it is likely to move toward the lower end of that area over time, given the combination of these changes," McMillon said. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru Editing Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
