Wal-Mart will stop carrying the AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles at its stores, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Company spokesman Kory Lundberg said the decision was based solely on demand and was not related to recent high-profile incidents involving AR-15s, Reuters reported.
The announcement came on the same day two television journalists were shot and killed in Virginia. Wal-Mart said it made the decision to pull the guns from its shelves earlier this year.
“This is done solely on what customer demand was,” Mr. Lundberg said. “We are instead focusing on hunting and sportsman firearms.”
He said Wal-Mart will stop selling a class of rifle called the modern sports rifle, which includes the semiautomatic AR-15. He said that class of rifle was sold in fewer than a third of its roughly 4,500 U.S. stores, Reuters reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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