Walmart returns guns and ammo displays after removing due to civil unrest

Updated: Oct 30, 2020 / 02:10 PM CDT

FILE – In this March 31, 2020 file photo, a woman pulls groceries from a cart to her vehicle outside of a Walmart store in Pearl, Miss. Walmart is launching a new membership service for shoppers this month that it hopes can compete with Amazon Prime. Called Walmart+, it will cost $98 a year or $12.95 a month, and give members same-day delivery on 160,000 items, a fuel discount at certain gas stations and a chance to check out at Walmart stores without having to wait at a register. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Walmart is returning guns and ammo to its sales floors after removing them in response to the unrest in Philadelphia this week following the death of Walter Wallace, the retail giant announced Friday.

The nation’s largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, sells firearms in about half of its 4,700 stores.

The company announced their initial decision Thursday before issuing an update Friday, saying the incidents “remained geographically isolated.”

After civil unrest earlier this week resulted in damage to several of our stores, consistent with actions we took over the summer, we asked stores to move firearms and ammunition from the sales floor to a secure location in the back of the store in an abundance of caution. As the current incidents have remained geographically isolated, we have made the decision to begin returning these products to the sales floor today.
Walmart

The company made a similar decision in June amid nationwide protests.

Last year, Walmart stopped selling handgun and short-barrel rifle ammunition while requesting that customers not openly carry firearms in its stores, even where state laws allow it. The company also ended the sale of handguns in Alaska, the only state where the discounter sold them.

The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate KNWA contributed to this report.