Semi-Automatic Rifles Selling Fast at Walmart

The decision by Dick's Sporting Goods to suspend sales of "modern sporting rifles"—industry vernacular for weapons similar to M-16s—might be paying off for Walmart. Bloomberg reports that the semi-automatic weapons are out of stock at many Walmarts across the country, including those in Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Alabama. Walmart sells about 10 types of the rifles, though it removed a description and photo of the Bushmaster AR-15—the gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary—from its online store after the shootings.

Guns are big money-makers at Walmart, but the chain doesn't disclose exact numbers. (One of its Black Friday sales was $50 off a Sig Sauer M400, putting it at $867.) In addition to the surging gun sales, Bloomberg says prices of handgun magazines are rising quickly on eBay. Four Glock magazines were going for $118 today, up from $45 the day before the shooting. Shooter Adam Lanza had a Glock with him, too. Two related stories:

• The Daily Beast is collecting responses to a simple query: "Why do you own a gun? And if you don’t own a gun, why not?" It's turning out to be an interesting forum for both sides.
• The Nation has a piece headlined "How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter's AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America."

(More gun sales stories.)