On Wednesday night, Walmart announced that it would stop selling firearms and ammunition to people under 21 years old, joining Dick’s Sporting Goods in taking public action over its gun sales policy in response to the recent mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. The new policies will be implemented “as quickly as possible.”

The company’s decision comes the same day that Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward Stack announced the sports retailer would stop selling firearms to people under 21 years old and assault-style rifles altogether. “Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age.”

“Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way,” the statement concludes. Walmart, meanwhile, ended the sale of “modern sporting rifles, including the AR-15″—the kind of gun that was used in Parkland—in 2015, citing declining demand at the time, and reiterated in its statement Wednesday that it does not sell “bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories.”

The retailers’ decisions mark the latest public stand that corporations have made in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. Following the mass shooting at a Florida high school, one of the nation's largest sporting goods stores announced Wednesday that it will enact tougher gun sale restrictions — including no longer selling assault-style rifles. The company, which operates more than 715 locations, already had pulled assault-style weapons from Dick's stores after the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting; now it will also stop selling the weapons at its subsidiary Field & Stream stores. In addition to changing its own policies, the company issued a plea to elected officials to enact "common-sense gun reform," specifically calling for the following regulations:

Ban assault-style firearms

Raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21

Ban high-capacity magazines, as well as bump stocks — gun accessories that allow semi-automatic rifles to operate like fully automatic weapons

Require universal background checks that include relevant mental health information and previous interactions with the law

Ensure a complete universal database of those banned from buying firearms

Close the private sale and gun show loopholes that waive background checks

With their moves, Dick's and Walmart join a host of major companies that made changes in reaction to the Parkland shooting.
Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart raise the minimum age for purchasing firearms to 21 and stop selling military-style semi-automatic rifles altogether.