Wal-Mart to toughen gun sale rules

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart, the nation's largest seller of firearms, announced yesterday it will toughen rules for gun sales, from storing video of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes.

J.P. Suarez, the chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., appeared with outspoken gun control advocate Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York to announce the changes at a gathering of Bloomberg's group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Changes to come at about 1,100 Wal-Mart stores selling guns include:

Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale.

Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation.

Expanding background checks of employees who handle guns and expanding inventory controls.

Suarez said the tougher standards will come with some additional cost to the company.

"The costs are we think part of what it takes to be responsible. Everything is not pain free," he said, adding that small sellers can implement many of the same rules. He did not say how long it would take to implement all the changes, but noted that software must still be created for an internal log of guns later used in crimes.

Suarez said his company may receive some pressure from gun rights groups, but added, "This is not a signal that we're getting out of firearms."

"The scourge of illegal guns is a federal plague that requires a federal cure," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

"Although we have asked Washington to take four common sense steps, including employees of gun dealers undergo the same background check that gun buyers do, Mayors Against Illegal Guns will continue to work on a local level with initiatives and law enforcement efforts to get dangerous, illegal guns off of the streets of our cities."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg urged other companies to join Wal-Mart in the initiative called the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership.

The mayors' gun summit also unveiled a new lobbying effort to close what they call the "gun show loophole" that allows people to purchase guns without background checks at gun shows.

Bloomberg founded the group two years ago with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.