Citing slumping demand, Walmart announced Wednesday that they will no longer be selling semiautomatic rifles.
As reported by Quartz on Wednesday, the move does not come from recent public backlash amidst mass shootings - such as the shooting of two television journalists earlier Wednesday morning - according to Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg, but rather from declining sales. “[T]he decision was completely based on what customers are buying and what they want,” said Lundberg.
The semiautomatic weapons are currently available in less than a third of all Walmart locations, and will be replaced with shotguns and hunting weapons as existing stocks are bought.
The decision will affect iconic semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15, which has often been the source of contention in the national gun debate.
Read more about Walmart's decision at Quartz.
Freeman Stevenson is a staff writer for DeseretNews.com.