美国国家公共电台 NPR Soul-Searching After Parkland, Dick's CEO Embraces Tougher Stance On Guns

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This week, we're marking one year since the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. We're hearing from families trying to forge a way out of their grief and survivors¹ who have turned their pain into political activism. Today we hear about the CEO who became an unlikely ally in pushing for more gun control. His company Dick's Sporting Goods is based near Pittsburgh, the site of another mass shooting that happened last October at a synagogue. NPR's Alina Selyukh reports.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE²: Almost nine months after the Parkland shooting, Ed Stack, CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, stands up in the audience of a New York Times conference. He's in his early 60s, white hair, navy suit. And he's up to talk about restricting gun sales at his stores. He's done it before. But this time, he gets personal.

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ED STACK: I'm not embarrassed to say I'm viewed as a relatively³ tough guy. I wouldn't characterize myself as a crier. And that weekend, I watched those kids. And I watched those parents, and I hadn't cried as much since my mother passed away.

SELYUKH: When Dick's executives ran the shooter's name through the internal systems, they discovered that months earlier they did sell him a gun while following all the laws. It was a different kind. It wasn't used in the shooting. But still, to Stack, this illustrated⁴ a broken system. So in February 2018, he went on a media tour. Here he is on CNN.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STACK: You know, everybody talks about thoughts and prayers going out to them, and that's great. But that doesn't really do anything. And we felt that we needed to take a stand and do this.

SELYUKH: That stand had two key parts. Dick's Sporting Goods would completely stop selling the type of semi-automatic rifle used in the Parkland shooting. They're sometimes called assault style or military style, And Dick's would no longer sell any firearm to people under 21.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STACK: We don't want to be a part of this story any longer now.

SELYUKH: Now, Dick's Sporting Goods is not a company known to go out on a limb. Its dress code didn't officially allow jeans at work until two years ago. But suddenly, Dick's was trending. It planted itself in the middle of the gun debate calling for reforms. This was remarkable⁵. Dick's is the biggest sporting goods retailer⁶ in the country. Stack himself is a gun owner and was a longtime Republican donor⁷. And Dick's is based in Western Pennsylvania where the gun rights debate is heated.

JODY SALERNO: I'll never shop there again. They'll never get another dime⁸ from me.

SELYUKH: I met Jody Salerno along with her business partner William DeForte at Salerno's gun store and shooting range called Elite⁹ Firearms & Training outside Pittsburgh.

SALERNO: With it being a homegrown company, it was more of a slap in the face...

WILLIAM DEFORTE: Yeah.

SALERNO: ...To Western Pa.

DEFORTE: Yeah.

SELYUKH: In which way?

SALERNO: You know, our roots are pretty deep with...

DEFORTE: The gun owner community.

SALERNO: ...The Second Amendment¹⁰. Yeah.

DEFORTE: Hunting, defense¹¹, all the shooting sports.

SALERNO: Yeah.

DEFORTE: They pissed off their core firearm customer base.

SELYUKH: Opinions were divided around Pittsburgh. In the more liberal city center, people would say they were proud of the company. But beyond the city, gun owners said they felt betrayed. A few miles from Dick's headquarters are the grounds of the Forest Grove¹² Sportsmen Association. Michael Karkalla shows me around the beautiful valley with shooting ranges, snowy woods, an icy creek¹³.

MICHAEL KARKALLA: I grew up walking this crick. If I was 12 or 13 years old, I would've been out on that ice.

SELYUKH: Forest Grove is a club for hunters and fishers, archery and gun enthusiasts¹⁴. And Karkalla is the chairman. He says some of the members actually work at Dick's. When Dick's decided¹⁵ to restrict gun sales, it was a huge topic of conversation, especially the new age limit of 21 now applying to all firearms and not just handguns as federal law says.

KARKALLA: You can vote at 18. That means you can vote. It's the way this country runs. You can enlist¹⁶ in the military and go fight and carry a fully¹⁷ automatic firearm.

SELYUKH: Now a year later, he says Dick's doesn't come up so often. The club tries not to talk politics. And personally, he disagrees with their policy but still shops there.

KARKALLA: They usually have the best price on, like, Penguins¹⁸ jerseys¹⁹ and Steelers jerseys.

SELYUKH: And Karkalla said something I actually heard a lot as I talked to people about Dick's Sporting Goods, even from supporters. It's this impression that the change was a knee-jerk reaction to Parkland. But Dick's had actually done something similar before. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, Dick's stopped selling assault-style rifles. Later, they were back on sale only at the company's hunting-oriented field and stream stores. And people who know Stack will say he does not make rash decisions.

JIM RODDEY: Every decision he makes in the company, I think, is very calculated, and he's made good decisions.

SELYUKH: Jim Roddey is former chief executive of Allegheny County, home to Dick's Sporting Goods. He also used to chair the county's Republican Party which, in 2011, wanted Stack to run for Senate.

RODDEY: And we thought he would be a great candidate. His story is wonderful. Here's the young son that took over and built this empire.

SELYUKH: Stack's father, the eponymous Dick Stack, had started the company almost on a dare as a bait and tackle shop in Binghamton, N.Y. When his health declined, his son Ed and siblings²⁰ took over. Ed opened the headquarters near Pittsburgh, took the company public. And it grew to more than 800 stores.

RODDEY: That business is his religion.

SELYUKH: And so historically, Stack's political and corporate²¹ work aligned²². When Dick's Sporting Goods would lobby Congress, it was often on taxes.

RODDEY: He believed in lower taxes, certainly in lower business taxes. He believed in personal responsibility, individual freedoms, the Second Amendment.

SELYUKH: In all his interviews last year, Stack always mentions his support of the Second Amendment. According to his company, he still owns guns and is a registered independent. So what's been the financial fallout at Dick's? The company lost sales, especially in hunting goods. But its profit margin²³ went up slightly because it makes less selling guns and ammo than sports equipment or clothing. Plus...

ROBERT SPITZER: Gun sales generally have been slipping.

SELYUKH: Robert Spitzer, professor at SUNY Cortland, says during the Obama years, there was a constant fear of a crackdown on gun ownership - not under Trump²⁴.

SPITZER: This has been widely referred to as the Trump slump²⁵.

SELYUKH: And hunting has been a drag for Dick's Sporting Goods for a long time. Fewer people hunt these days. In 10 stores, Dick's is actually running a test removing hunting goods entirely²⁶. But of all the moves by Dick's, the most controversial was the hiring of a new lobbying firm to advocate for gun control. Yet records show the company barely spent anything on the effort. When I asked the company about this, they said Stack saw no progress from his meetings in gridlocked Washington. So instead, he decided to speak about gun laws and his company's gun restrictions²⁷ at events like that New York Times conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STACK: We don't know for sure, but we actually think that saved some lives. And if we had a mulligan to do it all over again, we'd do it all over again.

SELYUKH: And he says Dick's is never turning back. Alina Selyukh, NPR News, Pittsburgh.

(SOUNDBITE OF AARON PARKS' "PROFESSOR STRANGEWEATHER")

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

9 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

10 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

13 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

14 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

20 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

21 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

22 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

23 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

24 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

25 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

26 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

27 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制