Wal-Mart to End Sales of Assault-Style Rifles in U.S. Stores

Wal-Mart said on Wednesday that it would no longer sell high-powered rifles in its stores in the United States. The decision followed years of public pressure on the retailer to stop selling some of the most lethal weapons associated with many of the nation’s mass shootings. The move predated the fatal shootings of two TV journalists in Virginia on Wednesday, and authorities have said the gunman in that attack used a handgun, a type of weapon the company does not sell. Walmart, the nation’s largest seller of guns and ammunition, attributed its decision to lower consumer demand for such military-style rifles, not gun politics.