Dick's Sporting Good's CEO: Company has destroyed $5 million worth of assault rifles

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

The CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods is trying to put an end to gun violence by not only pulling assault rifles from the shelves but taking it a step further and destroying the weapons.

Ed Stack said during an interview on "CBS News Sunday" that his company has turned $5 million worth of guns into scrap metal.

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"I said, 'You know what? If we really think these things should be off the street, then we need to destroy them.'" Stack said to CBS News.

In 2012, after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, Stack ordered AR-15's removed from the 720 stores the company owned, USA Today reported.

In 2018, Dick's stopped selling high-capacity magazines and refused to sell guns to anyone under the age of 21 after the Parkland massacre, according to USA Today.

A few months later, the company started pulling all guns from stores, first from 10 locations, and over the past two months an additional 125 stores have removed firearms from their locations, CNBC reported.

Company executives are also looking at the hunting category, including the chain's Field & Stream locations, and discussing if they should stay in the hunting business, CNBC reported.

"We found out we sold this kid a shotgun and I said, 'We're done." Even though that's not the gun he used, it could have been," Stack said on CBS News.

But there was fallout after the decision to remove pull high-capacity magazines and rifles from the stores. Stack said 65 employees quit in protest immediately after the change. Sales also dropped, CNBC reported.

Stack is making news show appearances in advance of his book "It's How We Play the Game: Build a Business. Take a Stand. Make a Difference," USA Today reported.

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