El Paso Shooting Aftermath: Walmart’s Gun Policies To Remain Unchanged

Following a mass shooting that claimed 22 lives Saturday at a Walmart store (WMT) in El Paso, Texas, the company has chosen not to alter its policies on gun sales despite public pressure. Walmart, the nation's largest retailer of firearms, confirmed to Reuters on Monday that the company has not issued any directives aimed at changing their policies for selling weapons.

Walmart last changed its gun-sale policies in 2018, raising the minimum age requirement from 18 to 21. Prior to that, it ended the sale of assault-style weapons in 2015.

Though the gun used in the El Paso shooting has not been sold at Walmart in years, advocacy groups are applying more pressure to the retail giant, which has more than 11,000 stores.

"As an employer and a place where a huge population of very diverse people shop, it's in Walmart's interest to reiterate what it's going to do to ensure that it's employers and its customers are safe," said Kris Brown, president of gun violence prevention advocacy group Brady.

Walmart has been the subject of many reports about its gun sales over the years and even in recent days. On Sunday, police in Florida arrested a 31-year-old man, who is the son of a Walmart employee, for threatening to "shoot up" a Walmart location.

In the aftermath of the El Paso shootings, the Washington Post reported on Walmart's complicated history of guns, noting that while founder Sam Walton was a gun enthusiast, the company has added more restrictions to gun sales.

The El Paso shooting was the third-deadliest mass shooting in Texas and among the deadliest in recent U.S. history. It was followed by a shooting early Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio, that killed nine people and wounded 27.