Walmart stopped selling semi-automatic rifles in 2015, and after the Parkland, Florida shooting in February 2018 -- which saw 17 people killed at a high school.
NEW YORK: Despite two deadly shootings at its stores in less than a week, American retail giant Walmart has no plans to stop selling guns and ammunition, a spokesman said Sunday.
A man opened fire with an assault rifle at a Walmart in Texas on Saturday, killing 20 people, just four days after a disgruntled employee shot dead two coworkers and wounded a responding police officer at one of the massive chain's stores in Mississippi.
"We are focused on supporting our associates, our customers and the entire El Paso community," spokesman Randy Hargrove said. Following the El Paso shooting, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon posted a note on Instagram saying he "can't believe" it was the second such in a week.
"My heart aches for the community in El Paso, especially the associates and customers at store 2201 and the families of the victims," he wrote.
"I'm praying for them and I hope you will join me." Walmart founder Sam Walton loved guns -- so much so that the American gun manufacturer Remington named a hunting rifle model after him. But the retail giant maintains that its target audience is sport shooters and hunters.
Walmart has made gun policy changes over the years, such as in 1993, when it stopped selling handguns.