Walmart takes guns, ammunition off U.S. shelves amid looting related to social justice protests

Walmart has removed guns and ammunition from its shelves in U.S. stores over concerns they’ll be stolen amid a new wave of civil unrest.

The giant discount retail informed store manager on Tuesday, the same day looters ransacked a Walmart store in Philadelphia amid demonstration over a fatal police shooting.

The letter asked that the merchandise be removed “due to the current unrest in isolated areas of the country and out of an abundance of caution,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Walmart made a similar decision in June, amid the looting associated with the protests over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.

The company will still sell the merchandise to customers who request it. Company officials say only about half of Walmart store sell guns and ammunition, in parts of the country that have a lot of hunters.