Sandy Hook families demand Bass Pro stop selling AR-style rifles

Nine families of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims are demanding that Bass Pro Shops stop selling AR-15-style rifles.

A law firm representing families in a lawsuit against Remington over the sale of guns used in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting, sent a letter to Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris on Thursday, according to Business Insider.

The letter asks Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's to remove and stop selling the Bushmaster AR-15, used in the Sandy Hook shooting, and the Smith & Wesson M&P AR-15, used in the Parkland, Florida shooting, Business Insider reported. 

The letter was sent on behalf of the families of Daniel Barden, age 7; Dylan Hockley, age 6; Benjamin Wheeler, age 6; Noah Pozner, age 6; Jesse Lewis, age 6; Vicki Soto, age 27; Lauren Rousseau, age 30; Rachel D’Avino, age 29; and Mary Sherlach, age 56.

Twenty school children and six adults were killed in the December 2012 Newtown massacre. The gunman used an AR-15-style rifle he stole from his mother, whom he also killed.

The letter asks Morris to "to immediately halt all sales of assault rifles nationwide."

From the letter:

"We imagine that when you began selling fishing tackle out of the back of your father's liquor store in 1972, you probably didn't envision the scope of what Bass Pro Shops would become. But from the beginning, you've been pursuing something more than profit — something more consequential: "It doesn't matter what new products our vendors create, or what great marketing campaigns they develop. Nor does it matter how many catalogs we mail or new stores we build." What matters, you recognized, is what we leave our children. "Conservation is at the heart and soul of Bass Pro Shops," you've said. "It is of vital importance that we invest in the future." 

Bass Pro Shops has not responded to several requests from the News-Leader for comment about its firearm policies.

Analyst: Bass Pro a "shooter's paradise"

Meanwhile, an economics professor who has tracked Bass Pro Shops for several years called the Springfield-based company a "shooter's paradise" that would lose a lot if it chose to stop selling AR-15-style rifles.

Nathan Yates, an adjunct professor of economics and finance at Southern New Hampshire University and a former business analyst, said Bass Pro Shops' core customers are different from those at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Dick's Sporting Goods announced this week it no longer would sell AR-style rifles.

"Dick’s Sporting Goods stores are increasingly focused on apparel and team sports instead of hunting and shooting (or fishing)," Yates told the News-Leader. "Their core customers aren’t typically firearms enthusiasts, so dropping AR-15s was a good PR move with little downside risk. The lost revenue will be immaterial for Dick’s Sporting Goods."

Bass Pro Shops, and its recently acquired Cabela's outdoor store chain, have a more gun-oriented customer base, he indicated.

"On the other hand, Bass Pro Shops is a shooter’s paradise," Yates said. "They also 'target' consumers who are very pro-gun. Bass Pro would lose material revenue if they dropped assault weapons/modern sporting rifles/whatever you want to call them, but most importantly, Bass Pro would risk customer satisfaction.

"It’s highly unlikely that Bass Pro would enjoy a net PR boost by reducing their firearms inventory," he said.

Yates said he didn't know what percentage of the company's firearms-sale revenue comes from AR-15-style rifles. Bass Pro Shops has not responded to the News-Leader's request for a comment about its firearms sales.

What if Bass Pro were to drop AR-style rifles from its inventory?

"Bass Pro Shops might gain social credibility with the kind of people who would never buy from Bass Pro, but their typical shoppers are rather likely to be NRA members," Yates said.

On Friday, a small group from the Springfield chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America protested outside Bass Pro Shops' corporate headquarters on East Kearney Street.

The group said it wants Bass Pro to tighten its firearm-sale rules — but they're not asking the company to stop selling AR-15s.

"We'd like to see Bass Pro increase the age limit at which a person can buy a rifle and the magazines that go with it," said Jean Knapp, the local Moms director.

"We also want to make sure that if it takes too long for a background check to go through, that Bass Pro Shops would stop the sale," she said.

Although other retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart have stopped selling AR-15-style rifles, Knapp said her group wasn't calling for that from Bass Pro.

She noted that most firearm fatalities occur with handguns, rather than AR-style rifles.

The full letter from Sandy Hook families  

Dear Mr. Morris, 

We represent nine Connecticut families who lost a precious child or beloved spouse on December 14,2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Their names are Daniel Barden, age 7; Dylan Hockley, age 6; Benjamin Wheeler, age 6; Noah Pozner, age 6; Jesse Lewis, age 6; Vicki Soto, age 27; Lauren Rousseau, age 30; Rachel D'Avino, age 29; and Mary Sherlach, age 56. Our law firm is less than a mile from one of your flagship stores here in Bridgeport, CT. We write to urge you, as founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, to immediately halt all sales of assault rifles nationwide. 

We imagine that when you began selling fishing tackle out of the back of your father's liquor store in 1972, you probably didn't envision the scope of what Bass Pro Shops would become. But from the beginning, you've been pursuing something more than profit - something more consequential: "It doesn't matter what new products our vendors create, or what great marketing campaigns they develop. Nor does it matter how many catalogs we mail or new stores we build." Whatmatters, you recognized, is what we leave our children. "Conservation is at the heart and soul of Bass Pro Shops," you've said. "It is of vital importance that we invest in the future." 

There has never been a better - or more urgent - time to act on those convictions, Mr. Morris. Conservation is not limited to lakes and streams; it is defined as prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation. Your fealty to that ideal rings hollow while Bass Pro Shops continues to sell the weapons of war that are routinely used to commit mass murder. 

From the shelves of your stores, a would-be mass shooter can select a Bushmaster AR-15 just like the one that robbed our clients of their loved ones; a DPMS AR-15 just like the one turned on holiday revelers in San Bernardino; a Sig Sauer MCX just like the one that gunned down 49 young people at a club in Orlando; Colt AR-15s just like the ones recovered in Las Vegas after the rampage that left 58 concertgoers dead; a Ruger AR-556 just like the one used to slaughter 25 people while they worshipped together in Sutherland Springs; a Smith & Wesson M&P AR-15 just like the one used fifteen days ago to kill and terrorize high schoolers in Parkland; and many, many more. 

We ask you to confront that fact and grapple with its consequences. Do not allow the company you built to be complicit in the next senseless massacre. Reckon with the infinite human potential wasted each time a community buries its children. Commit to understanding what our young people have lost - friends, family, a sense of security, and faith that their lives are valued above profit. This new generation is the future you vowed to protect, Mr. Morris, and they are literally fighting for their lives. 

It is never too late to do the right thing. 

Sincerely, 

Josh Koskoff
Katie Mesner-Hage