Stores sued for imposing age limits on gun sales

In response to the February 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people, some retailers have modified their policies on firearms sales. Several, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kroger (which owns Fred Meyer), L.L. Bean, and Walmart, raised their minimum age for gun purchases to 21. In the Parkland attack, the 19-year-old gunman used an AR-15 that he had bought legally.

Now both Dick’s and Walmart are being sued by Tyler Watson, a 20-year-old Oregon man who claims the stores engaged in age discrimination by refusing to sell him a rifle. Oregon law allows residents ages 18 years or older to buy shotguns and rifles. Watson’s case and a similar lawsuitfiled in Michigan by an 18-year-old raise questions about whether retailers can legally impose higher age limits on firearms purchases than those in state law.