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Dick's Sporting Goods took $150 million hit after restricting gun sales. CEO says it was all worth it.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Dick's Sporting Goods took $150 million hit after restricting gun sales. CEO says it was all worth it.

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Dick's Sporting Goods' CEO Ed Stack isn't troubled by the $150 million hit his company took last year, saying that small ding from restricting gun sales was worth the firm's sacrifice for the sake of the American public.

What are the details?

In response to the horrific 2018 February school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would no longer sell "assault-style" weapons in its stores. The merchant scrapped rifles and shotguns altogether and refused to sells firearms to customers under the age of 21.

Stack told ABC News at the time, "Based on what's happened and looking at those kids and those parents, it moved us all unimaginably."

According to Bloomberg, that was a costly decision. The firm took a $150 million loss over the course of 2018. But, considering that was only 1.7 percent of Dick's annual revenue, Stack said the drop in revenue was just the cost of doing what's right.

"The system does not work," Stack told Bloomberg. "It's important that when you know there's something that's not working, and it's to the detriment of the public, you have to stand up."

The high school student who massacred his classmates in Parkland had purchased the murder weapon from a Dick's store. The day after that suspect's arrest, another teenager in Vermont was taken into custody for allegedly planning a school shooting using a shotgun purchased from Dick's. According to Bloomberg, that "touched a nerve for the company."

Anything else?

Gun sales aren't the only thing hurting Dick's.

The Motley Fool reported Wednesday that the company is "also suffering from the slowdown in sales from several apparel brands," and has ended its relationship with Reebok. That decision is also likely to be costly, given the fact that Reebok "made up 90 percent of the apparel merchandise in Dick's stores" last year.

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