WSJ: Dick's Sporting Goods Paying a Price for Decision to Stop Selling Guns to People Under 21

The Wall Street Journal has the story here:

Sales at existing stores and websites fell 3.9% for the three-month period ended Nov. 3., driven down by weakness in the company’s hunting and electronics departments, executives said on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday. Those categories accounted for over half of the decline. Weak gun sales also hit other areas like outdoor equipment because fewer hunters are coming to stores, said Lee Belitsky, chief financial officer at Dick’s. It was the chain’s fifth consecutive quarter of sales declines.

In February, Dick’s said it would stop selling assault-style guns and would no longer sell guns and ammunition to people under 21 years old in the wake of a shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people. At the time, Walmart Inc. also stopped selling guns and ammunition to those under 21, but the retail giant hasn’t said the decision created a slowdown in sales.

I think the reason Dick's has seen a downturn while Walmart has not has more to do with the fact Dick's decided to hire lobbyists to push for gun control, something Walmart has not done. I know my household stopped shopping at Dick's for my daughter's sports equipment and started buying from a mom and pop owned sporting goods store in our area.