Responsible gun owners are furious with Dick’s Sporting Goods.
In the wake of the Parkland massacre, Dick’s announced they will not sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21, in addition to no longer selling AR-15’s and other gun accessories.
But their new business decision has proven to be a bad one.
The students of Marjory Stoneman High School are making names for themselves by rallying for stricter gun control.
Two students, David Hogg and Cameron Kasky, recently appeared on Real Time w/ Bill Maher advocating for anti-2nd Amendment policies.
Another, Emma Gonzalez, who spoke right after the tragedy in front of thousands, has accrued 1.2 million followers in the last several weeks.
One of the popular debates going around is raising the legal age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21.
While the law still maintains that you can purchase a firearm at the age of 18, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Wal-Mart both announced they will only sell firearms to those 21 years and up.
And now Dick’s is finding themselves backed into a corner after one store employee refused to sell a 20-year-old a .22 rifle.
Breitbart reports:
“A 20-year-old is suing Dick’s Sporting Goods after being refused a Ruger .22 rifle purchase based on his age.
The plaintiff, Tyler Watson, claims he faced “Unlawful Age Discrimination.”
Watson attempted to buy the rifle “on or about February 24” at a Medford, Oregon, Field and Stream store. (Field and Stream is subsidiary of Dick’s.)
Watson’s suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Oregon for the County of Jackson, says a store employee refused the purchase and indicated, “He would not sell [Watson] any firearm, including rifles and shotguns, or ammunition for a firearm, because [Watson] is under 21 years old.”
The employee referenced Dick’s recent policy shift, disallowing firearm sales to anyone under 21, and cited the policy as the reason for denying the sale.
Watson’s suit alleges that Dick’s policy violates Oregon law against age-based discrimination for people 18 years and older in places of public accommodations.
State law includes prohibitions against discrimination in stores that are open to the general public.
Watson also filed a separate suit claiming a Walmart store in Josephine County, Oregon, discriminated against him by denying him a rifle sale “on or about March 3, 2018.”
As with Dick’s, the Walmart employee at the gun counter allegedly told Watson that rifles and shotguns could not be sold to individuals under the age of 21.
The employee indicated that ammunition for firearms could not be sold to anyone under 21 either.
In both suits Watson alleges that the defendants, Dick’s and Walmart, not only discriminated but “advertised … unlawful discriminatory policies by issuing a press release, and other materials, stating that [the defendants] will no longer sell any firearms or ammunition to any person under the age of 21.”
On February 28, 2018, Breitbart News reported Dick’s Sporting Goods’ announcement that they would no longer sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21. That same day, Walmart announced that it would no longer sell guns to anyone under the age of 21.”
Dick’s and Wal-Mart will be in for a rude awakening once their sales start to dwindle.