By: Teresa Mull

Dick’s Sporting Goods is doubling-down on its anti-gun stance and is set to pull guns from 440 stores.

GPM reported in April 2018:

Dick’s Sporting Goods says the company is in the process of destroying all guns and accessories the retailer pulled from the shelves in February and stopped selling.

“We are in the process of destroying all firearms and accessories that are no longer for sale as a result of our February 28th policy change,” a Dick’s Sporting Goods spokeswoman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We are destroying the firearms in accordance with federal guidelines and regulations.”

Dick’s announced in February it would stop selling “assault-style” weapons like the one used during the shooting in Parkland, Florida. The company also raised its minimum age to purchase weapons to 21, sparking backlash.

Now, CNN reports:

Dick’s Sporting Goods will stop selling guns at 440 additional stores this year, escalating the company’s methodical elimination of firearms from its stores.

Now Dick’s plans to nearly quadruple the number of stores without guns, the company announced during its fourth-quarter earnings report Tuesday.

According to CNN, “The company reported $2.6 billion in net sales for the fourth quarter, up by 4.7% year over year,” however, as of September 2018, a report by the Wall Street Journal showed the company’s sales were down four percent, due, at least in part, to the company’s exit from the gun market.

According to NRA-ILA, Bloomberg reported in May 2019 that Dick’s anti-gun advocacy cost the company $150 million in lost sales in 2018, or almost 2% of the company’s annual revenue.

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].