Posted on Sat, Sep. 06, 2003
Wal-Mart won't sell guns at Midway store
RETAILER ACKNOWLEDGES COMMUNITY CONCERN
BY ROBERT INGRASSIA
Pioneer Press
Bowing to neighborhood concerns, Wal-Mart promised Friday not to sell guns and ammunition at its first St. Paul store, which will open next spring in the Midway area.
It's an unusual move for the giant discount retailer. The St. Paul store will be the only one of more than 35 Wal-Mart stores in Minnesota not to sell firearms.
Nationwide, all but a handful of the nearly 1,500 Wal-Mart stores sell guns. Wal-Mart doesn't sell handguns, except in Alaska. Wal-Mart is the nation's biggest gun seller.
Company officials said the decision to keep guns off the shelves is made on a case-by-case basis. In St. Paul, officials said, they concluded that Wal-Mart wouldn't put itself at a disadvantage because other area retailers don't sell guns.
"It's just the right thing to do for that area and that community," said Carlos Montoya, a Wal-Mart spokesman. "We want to be a part of the community and a good neighbor."
Wal-Mart intends to open in a 125,000-square-foot building at the Midway Marketplace at University Avenue and Pascal Street. The store was left vacant when Kmart closed earlier this year.
Community leaders praised Wal-Mart's decision not to sell firearms.
"The concern was that this is an urban area and it's not appropriate for guns to be sold, particularly hunting rifles," said Travis Snider, president of the Snelling Hamline Community Council.
Three St. Paul City Council members — Jay Benanav, Chris Coleman and Kathy Lantry — joined the neighborhood in urging Wal-Mart to keep guns out of the store. The council members wrote a letter to Wal-Mart in July expressing concerns about firearms sales.
"The Midway is not the place to sell firearms," said Benanav, whose Ward 4 begins two blocks from where Wal-Mart will open.
In response, a Wal-Mart official showed up Thursday night to inform the Snelling Hamline council of its decision during the group's regular board meeting.
Gun sales have become a growing issue for Wal-Mart as it expands from its traditional rural and small-town base into big cities. In 2001, the chain agreed to move its firearms display farther away from the toys department at its Newport, R.I., store. It has since made similar moves in other stores.
Last year, Wal-Mart decided to adopt a more stringent policy on background checks than federal law requires. The store won't complete a gun sale until a buyer clears a national background check, even if the process takes longer than three days. Retailers can legally complete gun sales without such clearance if the check still is pending after three days.
Other major retailers have grappled with gun issues as well.
Many Kmart stores sell hunting rifles and shotguns but not handguns. But the stores off East Maryland Avenue in St. Paul and on West Lake Street in Minneapolis do not sell any firearms. Kmart decided in 2001 to stop selling handgun ammunition, a decision praised by gun-control advocates but derided by gun-rights supporters.
Target does not sell firearms.
This is bad to sell in a store open all night long
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