Free Republic

A 20-year-old is suing Dick’s Sporting Goods after being refused a Ruger .22 rifle purchase based on his age. The plaintiff, Tyler Watson, claims he faced “Unlawful Age Discrimination.” Watson attempted to buy the rifle “on or about February 24” at a Medford, Oregon, Field and Stream store. (Field and Stream is subsidiary of Dick’s.) Watson’s suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Oregon for the County of Jackson, says a store employee refused the purchase and indicated, “He would not sell [Watson] any firearm, including rifles and shotguns, or ammunition for a firearm, because [Watson] is under 21 years...

Dick's CEO Edward Stack says the decision was a direct result of the high school shooting in Florida and the rallying cry from the kids at the school after witnessing the tragedy. "We don’t want to be a part of this any longer," says Stack.

As students at the Florida school where 17 people were recently killed returned to classes, a major gun retailer has announced it will stop selling the kind of weapon used in the attack. Dick's Sporting Goods, which has more than 600 shops, said it would no longer sell assault-style rifles, and backed "common sense gun reform". The move came as pupils and teachers made an emotional return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Grief counsellors were on hand. In the aftermath of the 14 February shooting, pressure has mounted on US politicians to act on gun control and for corporations...