Walmart to pull violent video game signs, still sell guns
Walmart is removing violent displays following a mass shooting at one of its stores, but doesn't have plans to change the items it stocks.
A company memo that circulated on Twitter this week tells employees to immediately remove signs and displays that reference violence, including video game demos, movies that depict violence and hunting videos.
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the order to remove violent imagery from store displays.
"We've taken this action out of respect for the incidents of the past week, and it does not reflect a long-term change in our video game assortment," they said in an emailed statement to FOX Business. "We are focused on assisting our associates and their families, as well as supporting the community, as we continue a thoughtful and thorough review of our policies."
Twenty-two people were killed in a mass shooting at the Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, Saturday. A few days earlier, two Walmart store managers in Southaven, Mississippi, were shot to death. Police in Springfield, Missouri, arrested a man Thursday after they said he walked into a Walmart there carrying two guns and wearing body armor.
Walmart has come under pressure this week to stop selling guns. One employee’s petition protesting the company’s firearms sales has been signed more than 50,000 times.
This isn’t the first time the company has been pressured over guns, which it sells at about half of its U.S. stores. In 2015, Walmart stopped selling assault-style rifles. Last year, it stopped selling weapons to anyone younger than 21.
The store has said it will continue to sell firearms and ammunition.
In a letter to employees Wednesday, CEO Doug McMillon said Walmart “will be thoughtful and deliberate in our responses, and we will act in a way that reflects the best values and ideals of our company, with a focus on serving the needs of our customers, associates and communities.”
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