The decision by Dick’s Sporting Goods to end many gun sales has cost it $150 million over the past year, but the company is standing by its move.
The downturn in revenue, Bloomberg reports, stems from losses in firearms sales — a move after the 2017 Parkland, Fla., shooting last year that left 17 people dead. According to Broward County law enforcement officials, the shooter purchased his weapon at Dick’s.
Dick’s Sporting Goods became one of the first private companies to stop gun sales, triggering the nearly 1.8 percent loss in the company’s annual revenue.
But Dick’s CEO Ed Stack is adamant the company made the right move.
“The system does not work,” Stack said. “It’s important that when you know there’s something that’s not working, and it’s to the detriment of the public, you have to stand up.”
In early March 2017, Stack announced that the company would be ending sales of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines at all its 850 locations nationwide. The company also vowed never to sell a firearm of any kind to anyone under the age of 21.
Some major gun manufacturers, including MKS Supply, pulled the plug on corporate relationships with the company.
