Dick’s Sporting Goods has learned that it’s better to be right than to be politically correct. In fact, when you think about it, they were dumber than all get out.
They sold guns and what did they do? They made gun owners angry to please people who will never buy a gun. That is not exactly what you would call a MENSA moment. Now, with sales plummeting, Dick’s is looking at closing 35 stores over 18 states.
The thing is Dick does not only give up sales of guns, but they also gave up sales on all of their other merchandise that gun owners would have purchased there.
Stack explained the corporate gun control Dick’s adopted in February, which precipitated the slumping sales:
What we said is, we would not sell any of the assault-style rifles, we wouldn’t sell high-capacity magazines. We’d never sold bumps stocks which turn a semiautomatic weapon into basically an automatic weapon, and we wouldn’t sell firearms to anyone under 21 years of age.
Additionally, Dick’s followed its decision to quit selling commonly owned semiautomatic rifles by destroying the unsold rifles in stock, rather than sending them back to the manufacturer. They did the same thing with “high capacity” magazines in their inventory. And on August 31, Breitbart News reported that Dick’s would begin removing “hunt products” from certain stores.
With sales falling, Dick’s now faces the option of closing its Field & Stream stores altogether. The Washington Free Beacon reports that Dick’s has 35 such stores across 18 states.
I’d hate to be that guy at the next stockholder’s meeting.