Walmart to raise age requirement to purchase guns and ammunition

The gun debate has taken center stage in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Retail chain Walmart has decided to raise the minimum age required to buy firearms and ammunition from its stores, days after a shooting incident in a Florida school left 17 students dead. Ever since the ghastly shooting in the Florida school, there has been a debate in the United States on how schools can be made safe spaces for the young.

In a statement, the company said it would raise its age requirement to 21 from 18, a decision it made "in light of recent events".

"In light of recent events, we've taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for the purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change," a Walmart statement said.

Even Dick's Sporting Goods Inc, one of the US's largest sports sellers, is ending the sale of all assault-style weapons in its stores.

The gun debate has taken center stage in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. A gunman armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle and multiple magazines killed 17 people and wounded 14 others.

The Never Again movement started by the students, teachers and students of Marjory Stomeman Douglas High School, has spread across the United States.

As with previous mass shootings, the focus of gun control advocates was the easy availability of the AR-15, a civilian version of the US military's M16. Millions have been sold around the United States, and AR-15-style rifles were used in the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Texas and Newtown, Connecticut.

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