PITTSBURGH (AP) - A sporting goods chain said it's suspending sales of modern rifles nationwide because of the school shooting in Connecticut.
Dick's Sporting Goods also said it's removing all guns from display at its store closest to Newtown, where the massacre took place.
Authorities said a gunman killed 26 people, mostly children, with a military-style rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday after killing his mother. He then killed himself.
SLIDESHOW: Dick's Stores Suspend Sales Of Certain Rifles
A statement posted on Dick's website expresses sympathy for the victims' families. It says sales of modern sporting rifles will be suspended during "this time of national mourning."
Nationally, some gun store owners have been scrambling to fulfill orders from people who fear stricter gun laws are just around the corner.
Tuesday was a busy day at Nashville
Sporting Arms where owner Chris
Tenpenny says they've seen a strong increase in sales recently, but not directly related to the Newtown shootings.
"It's a normal busy," Tenpenny said who has also been a school teacher for 26-years.
"Pearl Harbor you could
grasp. The Twin Towers you could make some sort of sense of one way or the
other. This has no handle on which you can grab it," he said in disbelief of the massacre.
Dick's declined to answer Associated Press questions about how long the suspension would last or which weapons were being pulled.
Pittsburgh-based Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. has more than 500 stores in 44 states.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
