Unfortunately, we live in an era where stores are trying to stop gun violence more than the federal government. On Sept. 3 Walmart announced that they would both limit the sale of certain types of ammunition and weapons and asked customers to not carry guns in their stores, even in states with open-carry laws in place.

 This announcement has been praised by many, including Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders, but has caused an uproar from the store’s more conservative customers and the NRA.

In a tweet, the NRA called Walmart “shameful” and said that the store has “chosen to victimize law-abiding Americans.” The NRA ended by stating that “our leaders must be willing to approach the problems of crime … with sincerity and honesty.” But where has the federal government been during each of the mass shootings this year? 

According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), there have been 283 mass shootings this year in the United States before Sept. 1. Congress.gov only reported one bill that passed through the House of Representatives in 2019 that relates to gun violence, with many more not making it past committee. 283 to one is not a good ratio, especially when lives are being lost. 

One reason Walmart is able to take preventative steps towards gun safety is that they do not rely on gun sales to keep their business afloat. Even with the NRA calling for their supporters to shop at other stores all together, Walmart is still the second largest retailer in the world according to Forbes, behind Amazon which also does not sell any firearms.

Walmart can easily take a stance for what they believe is right because they do not need the money from gun related sales, unlike certain members of congress who rely on donations from the NRA and other pro-gun organizations. 

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act was voted on Feb. 27 of this year where 150 of the 190 ‘nay’ votes were cast by House members who had received campaign donations from the NRA during the 2018 election.

It makes sense that these House members would want less regulated gun sales because their campaigns are supported by the organizations that pushes for and relies on gun sales. If the government is not going to push for stricter gun laws, who is? 

Large chain stores like Walmart should be taking steps for gun safety because it has become obvious that the government is not willing to do so. Lives after lives are lost and Congress can barely get one bill passed. 

It has become apparent that gun safety has become an issue for everyday people to solve and retailers like Walmart are needed as front runners in this fight. With over 5,000 stores across the United States, Walmart has the ability to influence large numbers of people with ease. Taking the majority of their fire arms off the shelves is decreasing the availability of guns to thousands of people. Hopefully this will prevent future mass shootings. 

Photo from jimarojfm via Pixabay