
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993                   TAG: 9312230108
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BENTONVILLE, ARK.                                LENGTH: Short

WAL-MART TO STOP STOCKING HANDGUNS

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, will stop stocking handguns at its stores as of February.

Customers will still be able to select handguns from vendor catalogs at the stores, and rifles and shotguns still will be stocked, a company spokesman said.

The decision wasn't related to the Brady bill or a recent lawsuit filed by survivors of a couple whose mentally ill son shot them to death with a gun he had bought at a Wal-Mart, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

"Simply, Wal-Mart believes the mood of the country has changed, is changing," spokesman Don Shinkle said. "Some of our customers want to purchase handguns from us. We also recognize that there is another segment of customers who are uncomfortable in stores that sell handguns on the premises."

Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a sponsor of the new federal law to require a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, praised Wal-Mart for the move.

by CNB