24 NEWSWEEK.COM DECEMBER 13, 2019
Q: What community issues
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A:I wrote It’s How We Play The Game
to highlight two issues. The ɿrst is
youth sports. National funding for
youth sports has been cut dramatically
today 4 of public schools do not
offer school sports programs. Sports
play a vital role in teaching our children
fundamental values and are a place
where kids ɿnd their conɿdence, build
friendships, gain mentors and feel like
they belong. We started an organi]ation
called Sports Matter to inspire and
enable youth participation in sports.
The second is our Mourney around
gun policy. DICK’S’ has a history with
guns that dates back to our early days.
The evolution of that story and how
we made gun policy decisions that
removed guns from our shelves and
advocated for change are important, too.
Q: You took all guns and ammunition
off the shelves of DICK’S temporarily
after the 9/11 attacks; and in the wake
of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in
Newtown, Connecticut, you suspend-
ed selling assault-style weapons. After
the 2018 Parkland, Florida, shooting
you completely removed assault-style
weapons from all stores perma-
nently. What made this different?
How has your thinking evolved?
A: The terrible tragedy at Parkland had a
profound impact on those students, their
families, our nation and me personally. It
led us to make the decision to remove
assault-style riʀes from our Field &
Stream stores (they had already been
removed from our DICK’S stores), and
to stop selling high-capacity maga]ines
and ɿrearms to people under the age of
1. We were inspired to make those deci-
sions by the brave survivors of Parkland.
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shelves. You even destroyed $5
million worth of inventory rather thanreturn the stock to your suppliers. Did
you consult with your board before
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A: We have an active board that’s
very hands-on and involved in the
business. As we often do when we
have an urgent matter to discuss, we
set up a telephonic board meeting
to discuss the changes we wanted
to make after Parkland. The board
supported us, though not without
questions about the effects of our plan
on sales and earnings. Satisɿed with
our answers, they gave us the go ahead.
More than a year later, if some-
body said, “you can have a do-over
here,” we’d do it exactly the same
way and not even think twice.
Q: You own guns yourself but are
outspoken on the need for stricter
gun laws. What do you propose?A: Let me start by saying that I
support the Second Amendment,
and as I’ve said, there are areas
where weŜas a countryŜcan and
should do better. In 018, we
implored our elected ofɿcials to
enact common-sense gun reform and
regulations, including renewing the
assault-style ɿrearms ban, raising the
minimum age to purchase ɿrearms
to 1, closing background check
loopholes and instituting back-
ground checks for all gun sales.
A bill that addressed background
checks passed in the House of Repre-
sentatives earlier this year. It’s sitting
on Mitch McConnell’s desk, and I hope
he cares enough about what a maMority
of the American people want to bring
it to vote on the ʀoor of the Senate.
Q: Do you have any advice
for other CEOs dealing with
controversial issues?
A: Don’t shy away from controversy,
especially if you have an expertise.
We felt that we, as a maMor ɿrearms
dealer, recogni]ed that the country’s
gun laws had too many inconsisten-
cies, and we should stand up and say
so. Other businesses need to make
their own decisions as to what is
best for their shareholders, employ-
ees, customers and communities.
Q: Besides DICK’S, where do you shop?
A: I regularly visit a lot of different
stores to see what they’re doing and
what we can learn from them. Some
of the stores I enMoy visiting are Apple,
Nordstrom, and Wegmans grocery
store in upstate New York where I
worked when in college. Smaller outɿts
often pop up to meet a consumer
demand that’s not being met by the
big guy in the market. I’ve found that
too many companies fail to take the
competition seriouslyŜright up to the
moment where the little guy grows big
enough to do them serious harm.Q&A
Ed Stack
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