Walmart shoppers threaten to boycott after stores remove violent video game displays, but not guns

[BeyondGeography]

Walmart is facing increasing pressure to pull guns from its shelves in the wake of the recent shootings at its El Paso, Texas and Southaven, Miss. stores that killed 24 people. Shoppers were also on edge after a man in body armor and armed with a rifle sparked panic at a Missouri store on Thursday.

Instead, Walmart ordered employees to remove video game signs that depicted violence, as well as displays for movies and hunting videos that reference gun violence. Now shoppers and the American Federation of Teachers have threatened to stop shopping at the retail giant, with #BoycottWalmart trending on Twitter on Friday.

...Walmart stopped selling handguns in the 1990s (except for Alaska), and it stopped selling assault-style weapons in 2015. It also restricted gun and ammunition sales to anyone under 21 after the Parkland shooting last year. But otherwise, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove told MarketWatch earlier this week that, “right now, there have been no changes to our firearms policy.”

...Plenty of parents doing their back-to-school shopping said they will be switching to competitors like Target for school supplies this year. “Getting ALL of the school supplies at Target today,” posted one dad going by Daniel Bishop on Twitter. “Unlike @Walmart, they’re not cool with dudes walking in with assault rifles and body armor.”

...And the nation’s largest teachers union, which counts 1.7 million members, also called for Walmart to not only stop selling guns, but to stop supporting politicians who oppose gun control. “If Walmart continues to provide funding to lawmakers who are standing in the way of gun reform, teachers and students should reconsider doing their back-to-school shopping at your stores,” American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten wrote in an Aug. 7 open letter to Walmart’s CEO, as reported by CBS News, noting that teachers spend $500 a year on school supplies.

More at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmart-shoppers-threaten-to-boycott-after-stores-remove-violent-video-game-displays-but-not-guns-2019-08-09?mod=hp_investing

[lunasun]

1. Yep it's the video games and the hunters

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/09/749784950/walmart-bans-violent-imagery-but-not-gun-sales

[spooky3]

2. Go AFT!!! Nt

[Grampa Joe Heck]

3. There's a Chick-fil-a inside the Walmart

Corporate campus Located in DGTC West in Bentonville, Arkansas.

805 Moberly Ln, SE David Glass Dr, Bentonville, AR 72712

The big wigs at Wallyworld will probably ask CFL how bad that boycott of them affected business.

Boycotts are worthless.

Unless it's the New York Times which folded like a cheap suit when threatened.

[BeyondGeography]

4. AFT represents a big chunk of back-to-school business

I wouldn’t have bothered posting it without that piece.

In most areas you can get anything Walmart sells at another retailer, plus there’s Amazon. I don’t think they’re laughing this one off.

[rockfordfile]

5. Good. boycott them for allowing people with to just walk into their store

[Luciferous]

6. I bought all of my kiddo's school supplies at Target this week. Fuck Walmart.