Tim McGraw Applauds Dick’s, Walmart, Kroger and LL Bean for Firearms Sales Changes
Tim McGraw says he supports the decisions of Dick's Sporting Goods, LL Bean, Kroger, Walmart and other large chains that have altered their firearms sales rules following the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla. On Saturday morning (March 3), the country star tweeted his approval.
"Thank you @Dicks for taking a stand to promote a meaningful discussion for the safety of our kids!" McGraw writes, re-tweeting a statement from Dick's Sporting Goods about their policy changes. "@Walmart, @Kroger and @LLBean too."
Dick's, LL Bean, Walmart and Kroger have all, in recent days, raised the minimum age to purchase a gun at their stores from 18 to 21. Dick's is also ceasing sales of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines; LL Bean does not sell those types of firearms, Walmart has not sold them since 2015, and Kroger has now stopped selling them in their stores in Alaska, the only remaining state in which they were doing so. Additionally, Walmart has promised to no longer sell products “resembling assault-style rifles, including non-lethal airsoft guns and toys.”
In November, McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, spoke out in support of "common sense" gun laws during an interview with Billboard. The story ran about a month after the Oct. 1 Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting that claimed the lives of more than 58 country music fans and injured hundreds more.
“Look, I’m a bird hunter -- I love to wing-shoot ... However, there is some common sense that’s necessary when it comes to gun control," McGraw said at the time. "They want to make it about the Second Amendment every time it’s brought up. It’s not about the Second Amendment.”
Added Hill, "Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians. It’s everyone’s responsibility, including the government and the National Rifle Association, to tell the truth. We all want a safe country.”
McGraw came under criticism from country music fans in 2015 when he performed at a benefit for the Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit that advocates for stricter gun control after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.
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