Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Wednesday (Aug. 26) that it would stop selling the AR-15 and some other semi-automatic rifles.
The retailer squashed the notion that the decision was based on political pressures and said that sluggish demand for these products were the sole reason for the decision.
"This is done solely on what customer demand was," according to Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg. "We are instead focusing on hunting and sportsman firearms."
Lundberg said Wal-Mart will stop selling a class of rifle called the modern sports rifle (MSR), which includes the semi-automatic AR-15. He said that class of rifle was sold in fewer than a third of its roughly 4,500 U.S. stores.
The move comes as part of a regular "reset" of its sporting goods department for the fall season, he said.
Consequently, the announcement comes the same day that two television journalists were shot and killed while on the job in Roanoke, Va. A former station employee walked into the studio Wednesday morning fatally shooting two reporters while they were on the air. Vester L. Flanagan II, then wounded a third worker and fled the scene by car. Flanagan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while being pursued by law enforcement officers after fleeing the homicide.