An 18-year-old Michigander is suing DICK’S Sporting Goods because the company would not sell him a gun due to its new policy against selling guns to people younger than 21.
The Battle Creek Enquirer pointed out that “At 18, Tristin Fulton can vote and drive,” but “He just can’t buy a firearm from any Dick’s Sporting Goods store.”
It’s also noteworthy that when men turn 18-years-old they must register with Selective Service and could potentially be drafted in the event of a draft.
“Fulton, a Pennfield High School senior and son of Freedom Firearms co-owner Jared Fulton, filed a lawsuit against the retail giant in Oakland County Circuit Court on Tuesday for refusing to let him buy a shotgun because of his age,” the Enquirer explained. Fulton’s unsuccessful purchase attempt occurred in Troy, Michigan.
The article quoted the plaintiff: “‘I'm 18,’ Fulton said on Thursday. ‘I'm legally allowed to purchase a firearm, and I should have been allowed to.’”
He also said that, “By denying me my right to purchase a firearm that day, they violated the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.”
“The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discriminatory practices, policies and customs on the basis of religion, age, race, national origin, sex, height, weight and other factors,” the article said.
DICK’s Sporting Goods recently issued a statement in which it spoke about the Parkland attack and announced several actions it would take—in addition to not selling firearms to young adults, the store said it “will no longer sell high capacity magazines,” and “will no longer sell assault-style rifles, also referred to as modern sporting rifles,” noting that “We had already removed them from all DICK’S stores after the Sandy Hook massacre, but we will now remove them from sale at all 35 Field & Stream stores.”
The business also called for government action, some of which included urging government to “Ban assault-style firearms” as well as “high capacity magazines and bump stocks” and to increase “the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21.”
DICK’S said that the Parkland perpetrator purchased a weapon from their company in 2017. “Following all of the rules and laws, we sold a shotgun to the Parkland shooter in November of 2017. It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting. But it could have been,” the statement said.
Fulton’s suit is not the first of its kind recently brought against companies selling firearms. According to the Enquirer, “a 20-year-old Oregon man, sued Walmart and a Field & Stream store owned by Dick's after he was not allowed to buy a 22-caliber rifle because of his age.”
“Watson tried to buy a firearm at Field & Stream four days before the retailers announced their new policies and about a week later from Walmart. He was turned away both times,” the article states.