Canton Dick's Sporting Goods End Sale Of Assault-Style Weapons

CANTON, GA — Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest sporting goods retailer, is halting sales of selling assault-style weapons like the one used in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting. The sporting goods giant has a store on Cumming Highway in Canton and a few others surrounding Cherokee County.

Dick's also no longer will sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21 and is halting the sale of high capacity magazines, the company said on Wednesday.

"We support and respect the Second Amendment, and we recognize and appreciate that the vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens," Edward Stack, Dick's chairman and CEO said in a statement. "But we have to help solve the problem that's in front of us. Gun violence is an epidemic that's taking the lives of too many people, including the brightest hope for the future of America – our kids."

This isn't the first time Dick's has made changes in response to a school massacre. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012, Dick's removed assault-style rifles from its main retail stores. But a few months later, the company began carrying the firearms at its outdoor and hunting Field & Stream stores.

Stack acknowledged that Dick's in November legally sold a rifle to accused Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.
"It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting," he said. "But it could have been."

Dick's locations around the area include:

• Canton Marketplace, 1810 Cumming Highway, Canton
• Town Center Commons, 667 Ernest W Barrett Parkway NW Suite A, Kennesaw
• East Cobb Crossing, 4269 Roswell Road, Marietta
• North Point Mall, 6440 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta
• Cumming Town Center, 2145 Market Pl Boulevard, Cumming

Since the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting by alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, the Cherokee County School District's Ad Hoc Safety and Security Committee will kickoff a series meetings as early as this week to address emerging safety initiatives and determine the operational and fiscal impact of the district's safety and security practices.

The Committee is also tasked with providing Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower with recommendations before he presents the annual budget to the Cherokee County School Board.

"As you know, three educators lost their lives protecting the children of Stoneman Douglas High School," Hightower said. "Our School District's team – from the teachers in the classroom to the leaders on our School Board – cares about your children as if they were their own. That care is what makes Parkland so heart-breaking for us and why I've called upon this Committee to take action."

Patch Editor Eric Heyl contributed to this story.
Photo via Scott Olson/ Getty Image