Wheaton Dick's Sporting Goods End Sale Of Assault-Style Weapons

WHEATON, MD — Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest sporting goods retailer, is halting sales of selling assault-style weapons like the one used in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting. The sporting goods giant has multiple Montgomery County stores, including one in Wheaton.

Dick's also no long will sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21 and is stopping the sale of high capacity magazines, the company said on Wednesday.

"We support and respect the Second Amendment, and we recognize and appreciate that the vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens," Edward Stack, Dick's chairman and CEO said in a statement. "But we have to help solve the problem that's in front of us. Gun violence is an epidemic that's taking the lives of too many people, including the brightest hope for the future of America – our kids."

This isn't the first time Dick's has made changes in response to a school massacre. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012, Dick's removed assault-style rifles from its main retail stores. But a few months later, the company began carrying the firearms at its outdoor and hunting Field & Stream stores.

Stack acknowledged that Dick's in November legally sold a rifle to accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.

"It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting," he said. "But it could have been."

The Wheaton store is located at 11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite P100.

Patch Editor Eric Heyl contributed to this story.

Photo via Scott Olson/ Getty Image