Wal-Mart Eliminates Guns From Some Stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on April 14 that it is phasing out sales of firearms in about 25 percent of its U.S. stores because of soft demand.

“As a retailer, we make business decisions every day on what products to offer our customers, based on customer demand,” Wal-Mart said in a press release. “In order for each of our stores to be a ‘store of the community’ and offer merchandise relevant to that specific community … we recently made a business decision to no longer offer firearms in approximately 1,000 of our locations.”

Wal-Mart said it began phasing out firearms sales earlier this year but didn’t disclose specific store locations.

“In stores where there is sufficient demand, nothing will change,” Wal-Mart stated. “We will continue to evaluate our merchandise selection store by store to make sure we remain relevant to the majority of our customers.”

Last fall, Sheryl Crow recorded a song about Wal-Mart and gun sales titled “Love is a Good Thing.” When Wal-Mart refused to stock the CD, it was criticized for censorship.

According to the Reuters news agency, the offending lyrics included, “Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/with a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores.”

Wal-Mart called the comments unfair and irresponsible, saying it prohibits the sale of guns to minors.