In 2018, there was a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were “gunned down,” according to the Washington Post. The shooter had previously bought a gun from a Dick’s Sporting Goods store. While he did not use that specific gun during the attack, this news prompted Dick’s CEO Edward Stack to remove certain guns from 125 stores. 

After the incident, Stark told the public that Dick’s would be getting rid of anything similar to a military-type gun. Because Stark did not want these guns in unsafe hands, Dick’s destroyed over five million dollars worth of inventory by salvaging it into scrap metal. There is talk that Dick’s might even leave the gun business entirely. 

The National Rifle Association criticized Stark’s decision to “keep [the guns] out of private hands.” However, some think differently.  

“They made the right choice by destroying all the guns,” says Justin Freyre, an eighth-grader currently attending McAuliffe Middle School. Some agree with Freyre, but others have a different perspective.

“I don’t think they made the right choice because five million dollars could be used for repairing homes,” claimed Colin Eaton, another middle-schooler in seventh grade from McAuliffe Middle School.

“I think that they made the right choice because they can recycle the scrap metal and turn it into better things like metal bats or helmets,” states Xander Wood, a seventh-grader at McAuliffe who agrees with Freyre.

Though people have varying perspectives on this topic, Dick’s did destroy the guns, and that was ultimately the company’s choice.