Wal-Mart starts selling guns again to boost income

Bentonville, AR, United States (AHN) – Wal-Mart announced on Thursday it will sell again firearms in about 2,000 U.S. stores.

The largest retailer in the U.S. used to sell rifles and handguns at hundreds of its 3,600 outlets in the U.S. until 2006 when Wal-Mart stopped selling in majority of its outlets because of low consumer demand.

Firearms are still sold in about 1,300 Wal-Mart chains throughout the U.S.

A company spokesman said Wal-Mart will bring back the guns to more stores to meet the retail chain’s 8,000 products target, although Wal-Mart officials had admitted the past few weeks that sales has considerably weakened because of rising gas prices.

Wal-Mart reported seven straight quarters of declining sales.

Wal-Mart said it would sell the firearms – including ammunition – in areas where hunting and fishing are popular hobbies. Majority of the firearms are made in the U.S. Buyers would need to fill up documents and undergo background checks before they could buy guns from Wal-Mart.

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