Chain that sold gun to school killer ends sales of assault rifles

UNITED STATES: Dick’s Sporting Goods, which admitted selling the Florida gunman a weapon, is to stop selling assault rifles.

The curbs were announced by the company, although the gun sold to Nikolas Cruz, who is alleged to have carried out the shooting spree which claimed 17 lives, was not used at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

‘‘We don’t want to be part of this story,’’ said Edward Stack, the company’s chief executive. The company, which has more than 700 stores across the US, will also end the sale of guns to anyone under 21, and no longer stock highcapacity magazines which can increase the death toll in a mass shooting.

Dick’s announced its plans as students at the school returned to class.

‘‘We did everything by the book. We did everything that the law required, and still he was able to buy a gun,’’ Mr Stack said in another interview.

‘‘When we looked at that, we said the systems that are in place across the board just aren’t effective enough to keep us from selling a gun like that.’’

In a statement, the company said it supported ‘‘commonsense gun reform’’. The move risks putting the company at odds with the National Rifle Association, which opposes restrictions on gun ownership.

There was no response from the NRA, even though the gun lobby group has reportedly lobbied Donald Trump not to raise the legal age for buying some weapons.

The initiative by Dick’s, which stressed that it remained a strong supporter of the secondamendment right of Americans to bear arms, was welcomed by gun control advocates.