Walmart Urged To Stop Selling Assault Rifles By More Than 85,000

More than 85,000 people are asking Walmart to stop selling assault weapons in the wake of the Connecticut shooting that killed 26 people last month.

The petition, on action.SomeOfUs.org, urges Walmart to stop selling the Bushmaster AR-15 -- the high-powered rifle linked to the Newtown shooting -- as well other assault weapons. Walmart pulled the listing Bushmaster Patrolman's Carbine M4A3 Rifle from its webstore very shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, but the company still sold similar rifles in 1,200 of its stores as of December 19, according to Bloomberg.

Walmart is the largest seller of guns and ammunition in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. The retailer didn't immediately return a request for comment from The Huffington Post.

Walmart brought guns back to almost half of its stores in 2011, the WSJ reported at the time, after the chain pulled them from its shelves in all but a third of its stores in 2006. Bloomberg reported five days after the Newtown shooting that assault rifles appeared to be out of stock at Walmart stores in five states.

Walmart isn’t the only place where enthusiasts are going to buy guns; sales across the country have surged in the wake of the Connecticut shooting as gun users race to stock up. Background checks for guns jumped to a record number in December, according to FBI data. (It’s common for gun sales to increase after mass shootings, as enthusiasts race to buy them for self-defense or out of concern that lawmakers will put stricter gun controls in place.)

Still, the Sandy Hook massacre prompted some retailers to pull some of their gun offerings. Dick’s Sporting Goods halted the sale of semi-automatic rifles four days after the shooting “out of respect for the victims and their families.”

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• Wayne LaPierre, National Rifle Association CEO

  <a href="http://meetthenra.org/nra-member/Wayne%20LaPierre">Wayne LaPierre</a> is executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the gun industry's top lobbying organization.

• Stephen Feinberg, Cerberus Capital CEO

  Stephen Feinberg is CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/school-shooter-adam-lanza_n_2312818.html">owns Freedom Group</a>, <a href="http://www.freedom-group.com/">the country's largest gun manufacturer</a> and owner of the Bushmaster brand. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/cerberus-capital-freedom-group-gun-manufacturer_n_2321258.html?1355834061">Cerberus announced on Tuesday</a> that it plans to sell its stake in Freedom Group. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/school-shooter-adam-lanza_n_2312818.html">Adam Lanza</a>, 20, used a Bushmaster rifle to murder 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on Friday.

• George Kollitides, Freedom Group CEO

  <a href="http://georgekollitides.com/">George Kollitides</a> <a href="http://www.freedom-group.com/press.htm">is CEO</a> of <a href="http://www.freedom-group.com/">Freedom Group</a>, the country's largest gun manufacturer, which owns Bushmaster.

• P. James Debney, Smith & Wesson CEO

  <a href="http://ir.smith-wesson.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=90977&p=irol-govmanage">P. James Debney</a> is president and CEO of Smith & Wesson, a major U.S. gun manufacturer.

• William M. Keys, Colt's CEO

  Lt. General <a href="http://www.coltsmfg.com/Company/History.aspx">William M. Keys</a> has served as <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=30194079">CEO</a> of Colt's Manufacturing Company, a major gun manufacturer, since 1999.

• C. Michael Jacobi, Sturm, Ruger & Co. Chairman

  <a href="http://www.ruger.com/corporate/S-BOD-Jacobi.html">C. Michael Jacobi</a> is chairman of <a href="http://www.ruger.com/corporate/BOD.html">Sturm, Ruger, & Co.</a>, a major gun manufacturer.

• Walter McLallen, Marlin Firearms Chairman

  <a href="http://www.marlinfirearms.com/News/press.asp">Walter McLallen</a> is chairman of Marlin Firearms, a major gun manufacturer, which is owned by Freedom Group.

• John DeSantis, Bushmaster Firearms President*

  <a href="http://www.bushmaster.com/press-release-071410.asp">John DeSantis is apparently still president of Bushmaster Firearms</a>, which is owned by Freedom Group. *Though the company announced his intention to resign in 2010, it has not publicly named a successor and would not return HuffPost's request for comment.

Comments

[jasjwillis]

08:49 PM on 01/14/2013

I do not even see any so called Assault Rifles in the Picture . All I see from right to left is a Bolt action ,an Inline Muzzle Loader,some more Bolt actions, and a Semi Auto Shotgun that is Camouflaged for Duck Hunting . Wow Huff way to go on the disinformation campaign.At least they could do is find the scary Gun .But then you think of who they cater to "those who think Guns are Evil and Walmart sells Machine Guns" and well you get the picture!!!

[Terry Lied]

05:40 PM on 01/13/2013

I'm amazed that you can go to Walmart and see assault weapons in one aisle and children's toys within 15 feet. One day recently, I witnessed this. I later went to the check out line. The guy in front of me in the checkout line was armed with a pistol on his side and was buying something to increase his testosterone. Need more be said.

[Rene Jenkins]

11:54 PM on 01/13/2013

Why would this bother you? This person is exercising their 2nd amendment rights. What is wrong with defending your freedom?

[x68]

07:13 PM on 01/16/2013

The 30,000 innocent AMERICANS who die so you can think you have swagger don't count do they.

Does the NRA pay you to defend the tools of child slaughter? Or do you do it out of the kindness of your heart?

[montemanm1]

01:23 PM on 01/09/2013

>sigh< The AR-15 is not a "high-powered" rifle by any measure. That is part of what makes them fun to shoot: the low power means low recoil.

[x68]

07:13 PM on 01/16/2013

Practicing to take out little kids?

[montemanm1]

10:19 PM on 01/16/2013

There are as many as 10 MILLION of these things in civilian hands in America. Is that really what you think we do: practice taking out little kids? Then why are there not 10 million murders in America in any given year?

[Goldjam]

07:12 PM on 01/07/2013

ill be buying a rifle at walmart just because HP ran this ad.

[bdvc]

01:31 AM on 01/07/2013

It's looking more and more like a planned operation.

[i am evil homer]

09:12 PM on 01/06/2013

since that black friday boycott worked so well, i'm sure that this will work just as well.

[Jim Carley]

08:21 PM on 01/06/2013

Don't crumb under the Lib pressure Walmart!

[Ronald Yardon]

10:15 PM on 01/05/2013

WE ARE CAPITALIST PIGS UNTIL WE DIE.
99% OF AMERICANS HAVE NEVER LIVED UNDER A REPRESSIVE REGIME AND THEY THINK THAT THEIR LIFESTILES CAN NEVER CHANGE. HOW ASININE.?

[Ronald Yardon]

09:57 PM on 01/05/2013

AMERICAN PEASANTS ARE GIVING AWAY THEIR RIGHTS. WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. IF WE LOSE OUR WEAPONS, WE LOSE CAPITALISM AND WE BECOME LIKE ANY OTHER SOCIALIST COUNTRY WHERE THE GOVERNMENT RAPIDLY TAKES CONTROLL OF EVERYTHING.

[Chip Kerr]

01:11 PM on 01/05/2013

No reasonable person would deny another person their Constitutional Rights under any circumstances. And no reasonable person would try to place themselves in a position of controlling another person whom they were not responsible for, a parent for a child for example.

All these comments that start with the phrase "No Reasonable Person" are completely unreasonable with what follows the opening statement. I appreciate the verbal jiu-jitsu of such a tenuously constructed argument but in reality you are being a bully. By trying to prove the other side to be unreasonable when they disagree prove you are in the minority of opinions but still consider yourself to have the proverbial moral high-ground and therefore in the superior position. You think you are right and those who disagree are lesser and you want to take take advantage of your superiority. You want to control the other side. You are being a bully. You can't claim you seek equality when you consider yourself more equal than others. You can't claim to know better when the majority disagrees with you. If you truly have the better opinion your best option is to prove your case instead of wasting your time by bullying those who disagree.

[enlightened45]

09:02 AM on 01/06/2013

Look at the HP Main......looks like the "case" has been proven......

[eric sorrentino]

07:31 AM on 01/07/2013

More like the huffpo opinion has been displayed. Nothing has been proven.

[Brian Bender]

09:26 AM on 01/05/2013

I think the point is moot since they've sold out of most guns in most stores. Do you think a business will pay more attention to people signing a petition or peoples demand for the product?

[brians898]

02:38 PM on 01/05/2013

Bushmaster AR-15 pulled form shelves at Wal Marts across the nation.
Why keep lying?

[Brian Bender]

03:14 PM on 01/05/2013

They pulled the online add. Have you visited the stores to check their inventory? Fail, checkmate, LOL!

[bdvc]

07:44 AM on 01/05/2013

4 hours and counting.

[bdvc]

07:43 AM on 01/05/2013

Why in heavan's name do you take so long to process comments aitch pee?

[Jake P Hall Jr]

02:59 AM on 01/05/2013

The only petetion for Walmart consumers should be concerned signing is that Walmart require GMO labeling on all of the processed, low nutritional value food products containing GMO's at bargain prices that they sell everyday all accross the country. GMO ingrediants are causing serious medical problems.

[kaveman3]

10:28 PM on 01/04/2013

To everyone who whines about those who demand the correct terminology be used in debate, consider the following.

Let's say the NRA starts a campaign to abolish the 1934 NFA, which covers full-auto machine guns. The NRA then films a live demo for media consumption showing someone firing a semi-auto rifle and claiming these are the types of guns covered by the 1934 NFA.

Would you call them out on their lie?

How would that be different than the antis pushing a ban on "assault weapons" while showing video of full-auto machine guns and claiming these are the types of guns their pending legislation will cover?

[thedeadtext]

06:16 AM on 01/05/2013

Bad information is bad information.

We should all call out bad information.

?