Cooper: The private sector's gun steps

Walmart announced Wednesday it would no longer sell any type of gun to anyone under the age of 21.
Walmart announced Wednesday it would no longer sell any type of gun to anyone under the age of 21.

We've seen the private sector lead the way on the minimum wage. Now it's doing so on gun measures.

It's a start.

In today's complex economy, it made sense for Walmart, Target, Costco and others to raise the minimum wage they would pay employees over the last two years when the federal government would not and probably should not do so.

Walmart, which has about 150 million shoppers around the country weekly, decided in 2016 it was in such a position that it could afford to increase pay. The retailer giant's decision allowed it to recruit and retain better quality talent, keep its employees more satisfied and be seen as forward-thinking.

Although then-U.S. President Barack Obama had pushed for a national minimum-wage increase, his economic policies that ensured managed, regulation-heavy, slow growth were not conducive to such a general pay rise. Too many small companies were uncertain about their futures and whether they could afford to pay employees more with soaring Affordable Care Act costs and ever-increasing regulations that might even have expanded under a Hillary Clinton administration.

But the big-box stores could do so, and did.

Some states and cities, almost all of which were Democratic strongholds, also increased minimum wages over the past few years, but the jury is still out on how those increases may have helped or hurt in the long run.

Today, private sector companies are making similar moves where it comes to guns.

We're not referring to businesses that bend to political pressure to distance themselves from organizations such as the National Rifle Association, which had no role in shootings like the one on Feb. 14 that claimed 17 lives at a Florida high school. That's a completely different animal, though we're glad such businesses have the freedom to make such decisions. They don't everywhere in the world.

No, we're talking about choices by retailers that could have effects, though slight, on the deranged type of person who would open fire at a high school.

On Wednesday, Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods declared that they would no longer sell any gun to anyone under the age of 21. That squares with the federal law that does not permit handgun sales to anyone under 21 from a firearms dealer.

Walmart, further, said it would not sell items resembling assault-style rifles, including toy guns and air guns. Dick's said it would no longer sell assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines.

In 2012, Dick's removed assault-style rifles from its main stores but later began to carry them at Field & Stream, its outdoor and hunting retail chain. In 2015, Walmart discontinued sales of high-powered rifles, including AR-15-style weapons.

Dick's CEO Ed Stack also revealed that Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old accused gunman in the Florida shooting, had bought a shotgun at a Dick's retailer within the past four months. However, he said it was not one of the guns, or even the type of gun, used in the shooting.

"But it could have been," he said. "Clearly this indicates on so many levels that the systems in place are not effective to protect our kids and our citizens."

Congress has been reluctant to enact sweeping legislation on guns, and there's sound reasons for that. Only an infinitesimal number of gun owners do anything horrific with them. And there's that pesky Second Amendment to the Constitution, which mentions "the right of the people to keep and bear arms."

But perhaps it can take some clues from the private sector, actions that might include expanding background checks and raising the age to purchase certain guns.

President Trump suggested some of those actions and others - increasing school security and mental health resources and banning bump-stock devices- in an interview Wednesday. Indeed, Trump may be alone among modern presidents who could get enough backing to pass such actions. Adored by many Republicans and supported in his 2016 bid for the presidency by many Democrats, he might be given a mulligan by gun rights enthusiasts who know general actions need to be taken to stop the carnage.

We shouldn't kid ourselves, though, that the wise efforts by the retailers, and those that may come in their wake, as well any actions that are taken up by Congress, will stop someone who is determined to shoot up a school. That someone would find, borrow or steal a gun if that someone couldn't buy one. But every little distraction helps and may make it just a little harder for the next shooter - maybe in time for someone to suggest to law enforcement that the person deserves a look-see.

And when we finally understand that the thought processes behind mass shootings emanate from something other than a trigger, we will be making progress toward ending them.

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