Dick's Sporting Goods CEO brags about turning $5 million worth of rifles into scrap metal

Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack is not blinking an eye over his company's decision to pull "assault-style rifles" from its shelves despite profit losses, and is even bragging that his firm turned $5 million worth of leftover inventory into scrap metal.

What are the details?

In an interview with CBS News released Sunday, Stack explained that since Dick's stopped selling guns to customers under the age of 21 as part of what the outlet called the firm's "stand against guns," the company has lost roughly $250 million. To reinforce their stance, Stack said, he ordered the $5 million worth of firearms pulled from the shelves to be annihilated.

"I said, 'You know what? If we really think these things should be off the street, we need to destroy them," Stack recalled.

Stack also signaled that Dick's is still considering whether or not to end all gun sales in its stores, a decision the sporting goods retailer has reportedly been mulling over for months.

How are people reacting?

News of Dick's destroying the guns was met with praise from gun control advocates and criticism from Second Amendment supporters.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke — who has made gun confiscation a central focus of his campaign — declared on Twitter, "Dick's Sporting Goods is doing more to keep Americans safe from assault weapons than Congress."

Mom's Demand Action co-founder Shannon Watts called Stack "an American hero" for the move, quoting the CEO's reasoning behind the decision.

Meanwhile, conservative pundit Matt Walsh pointed out that "Dick's still sells knives, which killed 5 times as many people last year."

Republican commentator Wayne Dupree accused Dick's of treating "their gun ban like an old fashioned hysterical book burning."