SUFFOLK COUNTY CHAPTER
PRESS RELEASE                  
June 29, 2001                             

Kmart Continues to Disarm Its Critics 

Sag Harbor, NY—June 29--Kmart officials announced Thursday, June 28 that they will soon stop the sale of handgun ammunition over the next three months. The Troy, Michigan-based company has been under pressure from gun-control advocates to stop selling firearms for some time.
 
“And in December 1999 the company withdrew an application with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for a license to sell rifles and shotguns for a new store in New York after protests by an anti-gun group. “ the AP reported over its wires today in an article datelined from Troy, Michigan.
 
However, company spokeswoman at the Flint headquarters, Julie Fracker said the sale of firearms and ammunition had been under review as part of the merchandising strategy of the company's new executive team for some time. "Obviously we consider ourselves a socially conscious business, but this was a business decision made in the best interests of the company," she said.
 
Fracker said the phasing out of ammunition began Thursday.  Stopping ammunition sales at the chain's more than 2,000 stores will depend on when the stores' current ammunition stock runs out.
 
Helen Fitzgerald, an East Hampton, NY member of the Suffolk County New Yorkers Against Gun Violence that picketed the Bridgehampton, NY Kmart store in 1999 until they announced foregoing the planned sales of ammunition and firearms stated: “I am not surprised they made this decision, and although I thought it would come earlier I must say I am pleased because I vowed to myself that Thanksgiving 1999 I would not set foot into a Kmart until they got rid of the guns. I am pleased that day will soon arrive! I hate not being able to shop there.”
 
Michael O’Neill, a Sag Harbor member of the same group, said, “I think that not only was it a great decision on the part of the Board and present management of Kmart, but that it is a welcome announcement because families who did not want to expose their kids to the casual display of these potentially lethal instruments of violence will soon be able to shop in a family-friendly store.  Soon people will believe Kmart when it says its motto is “Kmart loves kids”.
 

 

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