Citizens of El Paso, Texas, paying their respects to the memorial wall created just outside the parking area for the Walmart store. Photo: Grossinger/Shutterstock.com

In an increasingly violent America where guns on average kill 100 people each day, experts say companies involved in selling, making or distributing guns should take a new look at their legal risks.

There are signals that some companies are looking at these risks. Dick’s Sporting Goods announced in March it was pulling guns and ammunition from 125 of its more than 700 stores. The company’s general counsel was not available and a spokesman declined comment on its policies. The giant retailer Walmart Inc., which is facing possible lawsuits after a mass shooting at its El Paso, Texas, store Aug. 3, also is weighing its options on guns.

The warnings are coming from legal experts like Eric Tirschwell, managing director for litigation and national enforcement policy at the fast-growing nonprofit group called Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.

“What I would say to a general counsel of a retailer allowing guns in their stores, first of all, allowing firearms is a choice, not a requirement,” Tirschwell told Corporate Counsel. He said the choice to allow guns in retail stores brings “increasing and significant risks. It will increasingly expose you to lawsuits, higher insurance costs, loss of customers and other adverse consequences.”

Tirschwell said his group has also been involved in pursuing policies to persuade big retailers not to allow guns in their stores. Starbucks Coffee Co., Target Corp. and other stores, he said, have adopted policies against the open carrying of weapons.

As for dealers, manufacturers and distributors, Tirschwell said his group offers best practices to ensure compliance with firearm laws. The group urges them to take “responsibility to do whatever they can to make sure their guns do not end up in the wrong hands.”

If all else fails, Everytown can and does bring lawsuits. It also files amicus briefs, such as one before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to protect the right of states and localities to impose some types of firearm regulations.

Another expert, Philip Cook, is a professor emeritus in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University who has studied the economics of crime. He noted some lawsuits for negligent distribution of firearms are making their way through the courts, but he sees an even greater risk to retailers.

“The El Paso Walmart case suggests that retailers may have to be concerned about protecting customers and staff from gun rampages,” Cook said. “The good news is that rampages of this sort are very rare. On the other hand, the publicity and eventual settlement may prove catastrophic.”

Against this backdrop, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart, one of the largest sellers of firearms and ammunition in the country, has faced increasing public pressure to stop selling guns.

A Walmart spokesman said, “In areas of the U.S. where we sell firearms, we have a long-standing commitment to do so safely, responsibly and within the guidelines of all federal, state and local laws.”

The spokesman added the company goes “beyond federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm; we do not sell handguns in our stores, except for in Alaska.” In 2018, he said Walmart stopped selling modern sporting rifles, raised the minimum age to buy a gun or ammunition to 21, and removed items from its website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal air guns and toys.

As to whether it is considering new policy changes on gun sales, the spokesman referred to an Aug. 7 statement by CEO Douglas McMillon. McMillon was visiting El Paso to recognize the heroism of some store employees who risked their lives to help customers escape the mass shooting.

In the statement, McMillon acknowledged that Walmart has been touched by the violence, both in El Paso and in a July 30 store shooting by a suspended worker that killed two other employees in Southaven, Mississippi.

“We are a learning organization, and, as you can imagine, we will work to understand the many important issues that arise from El Paso and Southaven, as well as those that have been raised in the broader national discussion around gun violence,” McMillon said.

The statement continued, “We will be thoughtful and deliberate in our responses, and we will act in a way that reflects the best values and ideals of our company, with a focus on serving the needs of our customers, associates and communities.”