Here’s a small story from what’s billed as the smallest daily newspaper in the United States, but it shows just how far the ripple effects of the Orlando terrorist attack have reached.
CG Exchanges drop some weapons after Orlando https://t.co/kad1IpurpL
— Kodiak Daily Mirror (@kodiakmirror) June 23, 2016
The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday that four Coast Guard exchange stores that previously sold “assault-style weapons” will be dropping the guns from their inventory. The Coast Guard base in Kodiak, Alaska, is the largest in the Pacific. Exchanges are located in Ketchikan, Alaska; Chesapeake Bay, Va.; and Mobile, Ala.
In what’s perhaps the most interesting bit of the story, the stores, unlike many legislators, actually have a concrete (if debatable) definition of “assault-style” weapons; that is, semi-automatic guns with at least a 20-round magazine capacity.
Coast Guard exchanges halt sales of 'assault-style' guns https://t.co/oa9fISWN3S pic.twitter.com/aYMEduNGD3
— Navy Times (@NavyTimes) June 24, 2016
CEO John Riley told the Kodiak Daily Mirror that the stores were for several months considering dropping the guns from inventory, but the Orlando mass shooting was the “tipping point” that closed the deal.
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“We notified the chain of command that, based on all of the sales and profit numbers and the amount of scrutiny we come under and the work that goes with it, it just doesn’t justify continuing to carry a small percentage of our overall business,” Riley said.
The decision meant that 11 guns were taken off the exchange shelves in Kodiak out of an inventory of 182.
Last week, Academy Sports & Outdoors removed rifles based on the AR-15 platform from all of its stores’ displays and advertisements, although the guns were still available for sale.
Academy Sports pulling guns off store shelves across the country in response to #Orlando massacre https://t.co/MgPLMEatRw
— 2 Works for You (@KJRH2HD) June 16, 2016
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