BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 26 (UPI) — Walmart officials Wednesday said the retail giant will no longer sell assault rifles, semi-automatic shotguns or high-capacity firearms.
Though Walmart has been under pressure for years by the anti-gun lobby, Senior Director for Corporate Communications Kory Lundberg told BearingArms.com, which first reported the story, that politics had nothing to do with the decision.
Lundberg told the website and Forbes that Walmart has experienced lagging sales in the firearms, such as the AR-15.
“We previously carried modern sporting rifles in less than a third of our stores,” he told Forbes. “Our merchandising decisions are driven largely by customer demand. In our everyday course of doing business, we are continually reviewing and adjusting our product assortment to meet our customers’ needs.”
Walmart is selling off the last of its stock of modern sporting rifles and intends to replace it with “other hunting and sportsman firearms such as shotguns and rifles based on customer demand,” Lundberg said.
