(WAND) - Walmart has decided to return firearms and ammunition to the floors of its stores in the U.S. after previously removing them due to concerns over national tensions.
The company had said Thursday it was going to remove these products in order to protect customers and employees, according to CNBC.
“After civil unrest earlier this week resulted in damage to several of our stores ... we asked stores to move firearms and ammunition from the sales floor .... As the current incidents have remained geographically isolated, we have made the decision to begin returning these products to the sales floor today,” a Walmart statement said.
A spokesman for Walmart would not comment when asked about why this decision to return firearms and ammunition to store floors came days before the Nov. 3 presidential election, as some have concerns about the result leading to more unrest.
Earlier in 2020, national unrest led to protesters breaking windows, stealing products and sometimes causing fires at stores in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland and other cities.
U.S. gun sales reached record highs in 2020, CNBC said, and more first-time gun buyers bought firearms in recent months.
The network reports Walmart shares were down about 1.6 percent in Friday afternoon trading. The Bentonville, Ark., chain sells firearms in about half of the over 5,000 stores it has in the United States.
