Dick's Sporting Goods Adds Restrictions On Weapons Purchases

HOUSTON, TX — Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest sporting goods retailer, will stop selling assault-style weapons like the one used in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting on Valentine's Day. Additionally, Dick's also no longer will sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21 and is stopping the sale of high capacity magazines, the company said Wednesday morning.

"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."

Stack also stated that in November, Dick's legally sold a shotgun to accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.

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

Dick's has five stores in the Greater Houston area, including one in The Galleria area.

HOUSTON (GALLERIA)
Post Oak Shopping Center
2131 Post Oak Boulevard
Houston, TX 77056

PEARLAND
Pearland Town Center
11200 Broadway Street
Pearland, TX 77584

SUGAR LAND
First Colony Mall
16535 Southwest Freeway, Suite 900
Sugar Land, TX 77479

WILLOWBROOK
Willowbrook Mall
7925 Fm 1960 Road W, #9000
Houston, TX 77070

KATY
The Shops At Park West
24600 Katy Freeway, Suite 1100a
Katy, TX 77494

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Galleria-River Oaks Patch, and click here to find your local Texas Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
Like River Oaks-Galleria Patch on Facebook and get our posts directly in your newsfeed; story continues below.

Dick's has previously made changes in their gun policies in response to school massacres. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting spree in 2012, Dick's removed assault-style rifles from its main retail stores. However, the company began carrying the firearms at its outdoor and hunting Field & Stream stores.

Following the Parkland massacre in which 17 people died, survivors of the shooting have successfully lobbied more than a dozen companies — including Wyndham, MetLife, Enterprise, Delta and United — to sever ties with the National Rifle Association. They also have pushed strongly for stricter gun control regulation.

Dick's called on elected officials to enact what it termed "common sense gun reform" and ban assault-style firearms; raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21; ban high-capacity magazines and bump stocks and require universal background checks that include relevant mental health information and previous interactions with the law.

"Some will say these steps can't guarantee tragedies like Parkland will never happen again. They may be correct," Stack said. "But if common sense reform is enacted and even one life is saved, it will have been worth it."

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)