Petition demands Walmart remove assault rifles

Despite the slaughter of 20 young children and 6 adults by mass shooter Adam Lanza, in Newtown, Connecticut, Walmart still continues to sell assault rifles, including the type used by Lanza.  

The nation is crying out for sensible gun laws and a ban on assault rifles.  But that doesn't matter to the United States' number one seller of guns.  They sell at least five different models, and they're flying off the shelves to the point of backorder.  Clearly profits speaks louder than community safety or basic decency.

Screenshot of the petition site

Now, some responsible citizens at SumOfUs.org are demanding that Walmart stop selling these weapons of mass murder, and have started an online petition.

From the petition site:

Walmart is the largest gun dealer in the US, and it isn’t just selling hunting rifles.
The AR-15 is an assault weapon, designed to kill as many human beings as possible, and was the gun used to kill 20 children in the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary shooting last week. It’s also the gun used to kill 2 people in an Oregon mall the week before, and to kill 12 people in an Aurora, CO movie theater this summer. 

The AR-15 assault rifle has no place in our communities -- but as of last week, it's being sold in over 1,700 Walmarts around the country. Walmart removed the gun from its website, but not its actual stores, and it’s still stocking other semi-automatic rifles. Will we need to wait until the next mass shooting for Walmart to take those guns off the shelves? .... 

There’s good reason to target Walmart. The guns and ammunition on Walmart’s shelves are already leading to bloodshed around the country. When Jared Lee Loughner shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 other people in Tucson last year, he bought his ammunition at a Walmart. A young Missouri man who was arrested while planning to open fire on a screening screening of Twilight in November had purchased an AR-15 and 400 rounds of ammunition at a Walmart. Community leaders and law enforcement personnel from Indiana to Texas report that criminals can easily steal deadly weapons from Walmart display cases.

Page 25 of the Walmart Statement of Ethics

Assault rifles like the AR-15 were designed with only one purpose: killing large numbers of people as fast as possible, firing between 45-100 shots per minute, despite being semi-automatic.  That's overkill for either hunting or self-defense.

On page 25 of the Walmart "Statement of Ethics," the company states, "We’re committed to the health and safety of our customers, members, and associates, because we care for one another."  If that's so, then why do they continue to profit from the business of killing?

Please take a moment and visit the petition site to add your name to the list of those who want an end to the selling of these weapons of mass destruction.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.


UPDATE (1/4/13):  So far, 85,000 people have signed the petition.  If you haven't yet, please do so.