US retail giant Walmart announced on Tuesday (September 3rd) that it will stop selling handgun ammunition and some assault rifles.

In a statement, group boss Doug McMillon described the status quo on gun control as "unacceptable" and asked Congress and the White House to take "common sense" measures, including by strengthening the background check of weapons buyers.

Doug McMillon said Walmart would stop selling ammunition for semi-automatic assault rifles using 5.56-caliber ammunition (or its equivalent .223), once current stocks are exhausted.

These AR-15 weapons are extremely popular in the United States, where they also equip many hunters, many of whom are available at Walmart stores, known for their low prices and known as socializing places for rural America.

The group, the country's largest arms dealer, added that it also stopped selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where it continued to market such weapons. Walmart also asked its customers to refrain from walking through its banners with firearms in plain view in those states where it is permitted to wear them visibly.

Recent shootings

The move comes a month after a shootout at a Walmart supermarket in El Paso, Texas that killed 22 people. Another shooting took place last Saturday in this southern state of the country, in the city of Odessa, with a death toll of seven.

The NRA, the powerful pro-arms lobby, reacted to the group's decision by saying it regrets that Walmart "succumbs to pressure from anti-gun elites".

"Queues at Walmart will soon be replaced by queues at other stores, which more actively support US fundamental freedoms," the NRA has tweeted.

Several Democratic presidential candidates in 2020, on the other hand, supported the new measures, while calling for more.

Joe Biden, the poll's favorite, and Texan MP Beto O'Rourke notably pleaded for a law allowing the verification of antecedents for all citizens. Senator Elizabeth Warren said Walmart "can and must do more."

For his part, President Donald Trump, NRA's long-time companion but who had been in favor of "common sense" reforms in early August, had not reacted so far.

With AFP and Reuters