VOA慢速英语2019 沃尔玛宣布停止销售部分弹药并禁止顾客在超市内公开携枪

Walmart has won praise from gun control activists¹ in the United States for restricting sales of gun ammunition² in its stores.

沃尔玛开始禁止旗下超市销售枪支弹药，这赢得了美国控枪活动人士的称赞。

The company announced on Tuesday it plans to end the sale of some kinds of ammunition. Walmart has also asked people not to openly carry guns in its stores.

该公司周二宣布计划停止销售某些类型的弹药。沃尔玛还要求人们不要在超市内公开携枪。

Gun control advocates welcomed the announcement. But whether the changes will result in fewer weapons on U.S. streets remains³ an open question.

控枪倡议人士对此消息表示欢迎。但是这种改变是否会导致美国街头上的武器减少仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。

The announcement follows similar steps by other gun sellers after public pressure to restrict gun and ammunition sales.

在公告发布之前，其它枪支销售商因为公众要求停止销售枪支和弹药的压力采取了类似措施。

In March, Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would stop selling guns and ammunition at 125 of its more than 700 stores. In addition, other businesses, such as Starbucks, Target, Wendy’s and most recently Kroger, have asked customers not to openly carry guns in their stores.

今年3月，迪克体育用品公司表示将在旗下700多家门店的125家停止销售枪支和弹药。此外，星巴克、塔吉特、温迪以及最近跟进的克罗格等公司都已经要求顾客在他们的店内不要公开携枪。

Supporters of stronger gun laws say Walmart will have a huge influence on the gun law debate because it is the nation’s largest retailer⁵. Gun control advocates are demanding that U.S. lawmakers and large companies take action.

严格控制枪支法律的支持者表示，沃尔玛将会对枪支法律之争产生巨大影响，因为它是全美最大的零售商。控枪倡导者要求美国国会议员和大型公司采取行动。

Igor Volsky is the founder⁶ of the group Guns Down America. In a statement, he credited Walmart for joining the “majority of Americans who know that we have too many guns in our country and they are too easy to get.” The statement said that Walmart should make it clear to Congress that “it stands with Americans who are demanding real change.”

伊格尔·沃斯基是“枪炮下的美国”这一组织的创始人。他在一份声明中赞扬沃尔玛加入了“美国多数群体的行列，他们都知道美国枪支泛滥，并且太容易获得。”声明称，沃尔玛应该向国会明确表明，“它跟那些要求真正变革的美国人站在同一条战线。”

However, most gun sales come from thousands of individual gun dealers⁷ or gun shows, not big retail⁴ stores like Walmart. So it is not clear how much difference the changes will make. About half of Walmart’s close to 5,000 U.S. stores sells guns. That represents only around two percent of all guns nationwide.

然而，大多数枪支销售源自成千上万家的个体枪店，而不是像沃尔玛这样的大型零售店。因此目前尚不清楚这种变革会产生多大差异。沃尔玛近5000家门店中，大约有一半门店销售枪支。这仅占到全国内所有枪支（销售）的2%。

Walmart said it will stop selling ammunition for handguns, and for two kinds of short-barrel rifle, after the supplies currently in stores are gone. That will reduce the company’s market share of ammunition from around 20 percent to between six and nine percent. That information comes from the company’s chief, Doug McMillon.

沃尔玛表示，在门店库存售空之后，该公司将会停止销售用于手枪以及两种短筒步枪的弹药。这将会使该公司的弹药市场份额从20%降到6%至9%之间。该消息来自于该公司负责人道格·麦克米伦。

Walmart also plans to discontinue handgun sales in Alaska. It stopped selling handguns in the 1990s in every state but Alaska. The latest move marks its complete exit from that business so that the company can direct its attention on hunting rifles and ammunition only.

沃尔玛还计划停止在阿拉斯加销售手枪。该公司于上世纪90年代开始停止在阿拉斯加以外的所有州销售手枪。这一最新举措标志着该公司完全退出该业务，这样该公司将可以将注意力集中在猎枪和弹药上。

The company is also asking customers not to openly carry guns at its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores unless they are police officers. But Walmart added that it does not plan to change its policy for customers with permits to carry concealed⁸ weapons. The company said it will be adding signs in stores to inform customers of the changes.

该公司还要求顾客不要在沃尔玛以及山姆会员店公开携枪，除非他们是警务人员。但是沃尔玛还说，该公司并不打算修改其允许客户隐蔽携枪的政策。该公司表示将会在店里增加标志提醒客户这些变化。

The announcement comes just days after a gunman shot and killed seven people in Odessa, Texas. That follows two other shootings last month, one of them at a Walmart store.

在沃尔玛宣布这一消息前几天，一名枪手在德克萨斯州敖德萨开枪打死了7人。上个月还发生了两起枪击事件，其中一起就在沃尔玛超市内。

Last month, a gunman entered a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and killed 22 people. It was the deadliest shooting in Walmart’s history.

上个月，一名枪手进入德克萨斯州埃尔帕索市的一家沃尔玛超市，开枪打死了22人。这是沃尔玛历史上最致命的枪击事件。

Nine people died in a second unrelated shooting that same day, in Dayton, Ohio. A few days before that, two Walmart workers were killed by another worker at a store in Southaven, Mississippi.

同天在俄亥俄州代顿市发生的第二起不相关的枪击事件中有9人死亡。在这些枪击事件发生的前几天，密西西比州南海文市一家沃尔玛超市的两名员工被另一名同事开枪打死。

In 2015, the company stopped selling assault rifles like the AR-rifles used in several mass shootings.

2015年，该公司停止了销售在几起大规模枪击事件中使用的突击步枪。

A letter from company head Doug McMillon said, “In a complex situation lacking a simple solution, we are trying to take steps to reduce the risk that events like these will happen again.”

该公司负责人道格·麦克米伦在一封信中表示：“在这种缺乏简单解决方案的复杂形势下，我们正试图采取措施降低这类事件再次发生的风险。”

The National Rifle Association, or NRA, criticized Walmart on Twitter after Tuesday’s announcement.

在沃尔玛周二宣布这一消息之后，全美步枪协会在推特上批评了该公司。

NRA’s Twitter post said it was “shameful⁹” to see Walmart surrender to the pressure of “anti-gun elites¹¹.” The tweet also warned that the company would lose customers to other gun sale shops.

美国步枪协会在推文中称，看到沃尔沃屈服于“反枪精英”的压力感到羞耻。该推文还警告说，该公司将会把顾客拱手让给其它枪店。

Gun control supporters have asked Walmart to stop supporting politicians who accept money from the NRA.

控枪支持者已经要求沃尔玛停止支持接受全美步枪协会资金的政客。

I’m Alice Bryant. And I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

retailer – n. a company that sells things directly to customers for their own use

rifle – n. a gun that has a long barrel and that is held against your shoulder when you shoot it

exit – n. the act of leaving a situation

concealed – adj. hidden from sight

shameful – adj. bad enough to make someone feel ashamed

elite¹⁰ – n. the most successful or powerful group of people

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 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。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

8 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

9 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

10 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。

11 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。