Randall Ling sent a message to Edward W. Stack Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dicks Sporting Goods Email Address that said:
Dear Mr. Stack, it is with a great sense of disappointment that I read of your decision to stop selling certain rifles and accessories related to them. If you think for one second that your decision is based on anything, but your own desire to make yourself feel good or that you are not giving in to political pressure, your customers will be happy to show you how wrong you are at the cash register. I have been a loyal Dicks customer for over 10 years. In that time I have bought numerous pairs of shoes, baseball equipment, fishing equipment, ammunition, and various other things. I have spent several thousand dollars at your stores in this time. Unfortunately, with your decision to blame guns as the cause of recent deaths, you have made it impossible for me to continue to patronize your stores. Automobiles are involved in the deaths of over 35,000 people a year in America. Are Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers going to stop selling them? Of course not. In making your decision, you have shown me that you dont hold people responsible for their actions. Instead, you hold inanimate objects responsible for being misused. No gun control measure has ever been proven to solve the problem of people shooting others. Have the strongest laws in the country stopped gun violence in Chicago?
Your decision is merely caving in to the gun control advocates. Over 8 million AR-15s are in use in America. Somewhere around 10 or less have been used in mass killings. If someone is determined to commit evil acts, they will unfortunately succeed. Their weapon of choice wont be responsible. The person misusing it will. Those people determined to limit 2nd Amendment rights use people like yourself to open the door just a crack. Then they find more ways of limiting or reducing access to other legal firearms that they deem unecessary until they find another way to open the door a little wider. This is still America and I dont need someone telling me what I can and cant own. I own many guns and none of them have ever loaded themselves, aimed themselves, or fired themselves.
Guns are not the problem Mr. Stack. PEOPLE are the problem. I have no issue with refusing to sell guns to the mentally ill, felons, or anyone of the like, but you have gone too far for me to continue to buy from Dicks. I will be going to BassPro to buy my ammunition and either there or to a local gunshop to buy any future firearms. I cant continue to support you in your current stance.
Regrettably,
A very loyal former customer,
Randall Ling
