Not for sale
Dick’s makes right move on assault-style guns
Dick’s Sporting Goods, the national chain based in Coraopolis, continued its work as a good corporate citizen this week. CEO Ed Stack announced that the chain is finished with the sale of assault-style rifles — such as the kind used in the Parkland, Fla., school massacre this month.
After the Sandy Hook attack in 2012, Dick’s halted sales of such arms at its 600-plus stores, but later stocked them at the Field & Stream speciality stores it launched the next year. Now, those 35 stores will permanently stop carrying them. In addition, Dick’s will suspend sales of all firearms to people under 21 and discontinue high-capacity magazines. Walmart also limited gun sales to people over 21. For good measure, Mr. Stack joined the chorus against bump stocks, underlining that Dick’s never has and never will sell the accessory that turns a semi-automatic weapon into a virtual machine gun. There is nothing “sporting” about bump stocks, which exist only to make a killing machine more lethal, as shown by the Las Vegasmassacre in October.
Each mass killing by heavily armed deranged individuals is followed by pledges to do something about it. The slaughter at the Sandy Hook elementaryschool in 2012 was supposed to be a turning point. Some actions were taken. Connecticut passed some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Former Rep. Tim Murphy pushed for comprehensive reform of mental health law. Many schools added activeshooter defense to their standard fire drills for overall safety. But as the carnage piled up, Americans could sense that effective legislation to control gun violencewas going nowhere. We might get fooled again, but the aftermath of theParkland attack feels different.
The students who survived the slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have been compelling voices for reform of gun laws. Here’s hoping they can sustain their activism, especially when cast as nonpartisan common sense. Like Dick’s, other parts of corporate America have been quick to take a stand, with at least 10 major companies distancing themselves from the National Rifle Associationby cancelling the discounts offered to NRA members. In both cases, these worthwhile acts have met some absurd responses. In the fever-swamp of the internet, the Florida students have been called “crisis actors” who are faking their tales. In the twisted logic of the Georgia legislature, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will be punished for cutting the NRA discount. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle vowed to punish Delta because “corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.” On Thursday, the Republicanled body passed a bill removing a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel thatDelta sought.
President Donald Trump has joined the criticism of the NRA, too. Meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, he defied expectations by embracing a series of measures — expanding background checks, keeping weapons from mentally ill people, restricting sales for some young adults — that the NRA and its Republican allies oppose with all their might. After saying kind words about the patriotism of many NRA members, the president asserted his independence as chief executive. “They have great power over you people,” he said, motioning to the lawmakers whose campaigns welcome the NRA’s goodwill, “but they have less power over me.” The event left many Republicans sputtering and Democrats cheering (but with the realistic caution that the president’s stance couldchange at any time).
The president also got carried away in his zeal to keep guns away from people with dangerous mental illness, suggesting that law enforcement officers could “take the guns first, go through due process second.” The U.S. Constitutionsays otherwise.
Still, like Richard Nixon cutting a deal with China, Mr. Trump has credibility with law-abiding gun owners, who are the overwhelming majority. Perhaps the president can help them to understand that the NRA can no longer defend its most extreme positions.