National Shooting Sports Foundation Cancels Dick’s Sporting Goods Membership

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has canceled Dick’s Sporting Goods’ membership, thereby expelling the company from the organization.

The NSSF’s announcement came the day after renowned pistol and rifle maker Springfield Armory cut ties with Dick’s.

In expelling Dick’s, NSSF pointed to the company’s corporate gun control as well its efforts to lobby Congress for gun control legislation.

NSSF announced:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, Board of Governors today unanimously voted to expel Dick’s Sporting Goods from membership for conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Foundation.

Dick’s Sporting Goods recently hired a Washington D.C.-based government affairs firm, for “[l]obbying related to gun control.” Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward W. Stack announced earlier this year the retail chain would end sales of modern sporting rifles, voluntarily raise the age to 21 to purchase firearms in their stores and called for more restrictive legislation. Dick’s later announced they would destroy the remaining modern sporting rifle inventory. NSSF responded that business decisions should be individually made, but was nonetheless disappointed and the decision does not reflect the reality of the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners.

The NSSF sponsors the annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas. That gathering features thirteen-plus miles of aisles of firearms and firearm accessories from manufacturers around the world.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.