{"id":409,"date":"2026-06-23T05:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409"},"modified":"2026-06-23T05:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:37:09","slug":"how-walmart-helped-make-the-newtown-shooters-ar-15-the-most-popular-assault-weapon-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409","title":{"rendered":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<div>\n<article>\n<header>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Feature<\/li>\n<li>December 19, 2012<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter\u2019s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America<\/h1>\n<h1>How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter\u2019s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America<\/h1>\n<h2>A massive recent spike in gun sales has boosted Walmart\u2019s flagging profits, making it the top seller of firearms and ammunition nationwide.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<time>December 19, 2012<\/time><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, December 14, inexplicably bent on ending as many lives as possible, he was carrying a Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle and several high-capacity magazines. Sadly, this isn\u2019t the first time the country has had to deal with the aftermath of a horrific shooting spree, nor is it the first time we\u2019ve encountered an AR-15 in this context: only days earlier, it was the weapon of choice for a shooting at an Oregon mall that killed two people. Five months earlier, it was used by James Holmes in an attack that wounded fifty-eight people and killed twelve in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. And several years before that, a man and his teenage accomplice used a Bushmaster AR-15 to terrorize the Washington, DC, area with a series of random shootings.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Although it is not yet clear where the Bushmaster AR-15 used by Lanza (and registered to his mother) was purchased, the model is familiar to many Walmart shoppers. It\u2019s on sale at about 1,700 Walmart stores nationwide, though the retail chain pulled the weapon from its website three days after the attack. While the deadly rampage in Connecticut has finally and unmistakably highlighted the madness of making such weapons readily available, it\u2019s a concern that many people with a Walmart in their community have been trying to address for years. Several months back, the Rev. Greg Brown had a troubling conversation with two members of his youth group from the northwest side of South Bend, Indiana. \u201cThey were honor roll students and little young folks that love the Lord,\u201d Brown recounted. \u201cOne of the kids came up to me and said, \u2018Rev, you ain\u2019t gonna believe what happened the other day at Walmart.\u2019\u201d The kids went on to describe how, on a recent visit to the big-box store, a man asked them to fill up a gym bag with ammunition and sneak it out of the store for him. They declined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Walmart\u2019s ammunition sales have troubled Brown since at least 2009, when two teenagers shoplifted bullets from the local Walmart, shot at an employee who tried to stop them in the parking lot, and then embarked on a citywide robbery spree in which one man was seriously injured. When Brown headed down to the store to see how easy it would be to steal ammunition, he was shocked. Not only were there bullets arrayed on the unlocked shelves; there were rows of guns as well, including assault rifles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>South Bend has the most violent crime per capita in Indiana and well more than double the national median. Brown was outraged that Walmart was even selling these weapons, let alone that they were unlocked and under the supervision of hourly employees without specific training in firearm handling and sales. (Brown says a former Marine handles the gun sales at a nearby Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods.) \u201cIt\u2019s totally wrong, and it\u2019s totally unacceptable,\u201d he said. \u201cYou look back there and see a dad holding a gun, his son pulling on his pocket. And the son knows the gun is going home. The son\u2019s going to know where the gun is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>South Bend isn\u2019t the only place where Walmart is stocking guns, including combat-style weapons and gun-related paraphernalia. The big-box chain at one point sold guns in only about a third of its stores, mainly in remote rural areas where hunting is popular. But in 2011, without much fanfare, Walmart expanded gun sales to about half of its 3,982 stores nationwide, including those in more urban areas like Albuquerque and Spokane.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<p><span><span>&#8220;swipe left below to view more authors&#8221;<\/span>Swipe \u2192<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<span>We Are in the Middle of a \u201cRolling Coup\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                We Are in the Middle of a \u201cRolling Coup\u201d<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p>\nRichard Gephardt<span> and <\/span>Timothy Wirth <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<span>Free-Speech Fraud Bari Weiss Would Rather Deport Than Debate<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                Free-Speech Fraud Bari Weiss Would Rather Deport Than Debate<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p>\nJeet Heer <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<span>Marty Peretz and the Travails of American Liberalism<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                Marty Peretz and the Travails of American Liberalism<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p>\nBooks &amp; the Arts<br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n                            \/<br \/>\n                        <\/span><br \/>\nJeet Heer <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3>\n<span>Transcript: Live Chat on the Future of Feminist Activism<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                Transcript: Live Chat on the Future of Feminist Activism<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p>\nThe Nation <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The expansion of gun sales at Walmart came after a five-year slowdown. In 2006, the chain announced that it was rolling back gun sales, citing declining profit margins on the relatively expensive weapons, which even at Walmart can retail for hundreds of dollars. But in 2011, company executives were looking at eight straight quarters of declining sales at stores open for a year or more\u2014the worst slump in Walmart\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>They must also have noticed that Barack Obama\u2019s inauguration had sparked a rally in gun sales, which have steadily increased every year since 2008. The government isn\u2019t allowed to track firearm sales, but the FBI does release figures on how many retailers ask it to run background checks\u2014a relatively reliable indicator of total gun sales, although likely a lowball estimate, since a person can buy multiple guns on a single background check, and many gun shows aren\u2019t required to perform such checks. In 2007, retailers asked the FBI for just over 11 million background checks; by the end of 2009, 14 million checks were requested\u2014a 27 percent increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In April 2011, Walmart began stocking guns in more and more stores, expanding the sales to 1,750 outlets nationwide. By the end of that year, the FBI received 16.4 million background check requests; the number is 16.8 million this year. Overall Walmart sales figures are back on track after the 2011 slump, and executive vice president Duncan Mac Naughton told shareholders at a meeting in October 2012 that gun sales in particular are a staple of the chain\u2019s strategy to continue boosting its numbers. He said that over the past twenty-six months, gun sales at Walmart stores open for a year or more were up an astonishing 76 percent, while ammunition sales were up 30 percent. Walmart is now the biggest seller of firearms and ammunition in America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis gun thing, it\u2019s really just a nightmare,\u201d says Bertha Lewis, president of the Black Institute, which has been organizing Walmart workers this year to protest wages and working conditions. Given its aggressive gun sales, Walmart\u2019s logo \u201cshouldn\u2019t be a smiley face; it should be an automatic weapon,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 400 guns are available in Walmart\u2019s catalog. And even if your local store doesn\u2019t sell a particular model, you can special-order it (assuming you pay half the cost ahead of time). With the exception of its stores in Alaska, Walmart doesn\u2019t sell handguns, though it does sell ammunition for them, along with a wide variety of semi-automatic long-barrel weapons. For example, at half the Walmarts in America, you can buy a semiautomatic Colt M4 Ops .22 rifle; it carries a thirty-round magazine, which you can also purchase in the store. Or perhaps a Sig Sauer M400 assault rifle, advertised on Walmart\u2019s website as \u201cdesigned for use in law enforcement, military operations\u2026as well as competitive shooting,\u201d which is just one of several AR-15 assault rifles for sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In keeping with the store\u2019s pitch as a one-stop destination for shoppers, with everything from gas to groceries, gun enthusiasts can also obtain a wide range of gun accessories\u2014including the 360 types of ammunition listed on Walmart\u2019s website. You can buy a 555-pack of Winchester hollow-point bullets, which the website advertises as \u201cgreat for plinking and varmints,\u201d but which would cause extensive damage should they enter a human body and expand, as they are designed to do. There are full clips of ammunition for assault rifles, including \u201cquiet ammo\u201d that makes only a quarter of the noise of regular bullets. Laser-pointing sights for handguns are also available, as well as belts for holding shotgun shells (only $4.97 at select stores).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Walmart, which declined to comment for this story, has said elsewhere that its stores will always respect local laws and ordinances on gun sales. But in 2005, Walmart was busted by Bill Lockyer, then the California attorney general, for thousands of state gun law violations\u2014including selling to people that the AG\u2019s office had notified Walmart were prohibited from owning firearms; delivering guns to customers before they passed a background check; and sometimes even failing to ascertain a customer\u2019s identity. The company settled the suit for $14.5 million.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, Walmart has contributed to efforts to change state gun laws and make the possession and use of firearms even easier. It was one of the key backers of the American Legislative Exchange Council when the group aggressively pushed \u201cstand your ground\u201d laws in states across the country. (Walmart has since dropped out of ALEC under public pressure.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, the store reached an agreement with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to adopt tough new standards for sales above the federal requirements for gun retailers. But even if every regulation is adhered to, the mass sale of weapons and ammunition will undoubtedly contribute to this country\u2019s horrifying gun violence problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Walmart is increasingly popping up in court documents. In 2011, on the morning that he killed six people, including a federal judge, and injured thirteen others, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Lee Loughner went to two Walmarts in Tucson in search of ammunition. He was turned away at one store for \u201cstrange behavior,\u201d according to police, but got what he was looking for at the next Walmart. (\u201cWe share in the sadness for those people whose lives were ended too soon,\u201d the store said in a statement at the time.)<\/p>\n<p>In November, a disturbed 20-year-old in Missouri was arrested for planning mass shootings at a screening of the new <em>Twilight<\/em> movie and at the local Walmart\u2014the latter because he could reload there. \u201cHe decided that he would go and shoot people at Walmart in Bolivar,\u201d according to the court documents. \u201cHe would walk into the store and just start shooting people at random and if he ran out of ammunition\u2026he would just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep on shooting until police arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Local news reports are rife with stories of gun thefts at Walmart stores, often apparently because of lax oversight of the weapons inventory. In October, a man and a woman cracked open a display case at a Walmart store in Tyler, Texas, \u201cwhile a clerk wasn\u2019t looking,\u201d according to local reports, and stole four assault rifles. The two have yet to be apprehended.<\/p>\n<p>A week earlier, at a Walmart in Missoula County, Montana, a clerk was showing a Sig Sauer semiautomatic rifle to a man who then \u201cgrabbed it and ran for the store\u2019s entrance,\u201d according to the charging documents. The police nabbed him a short time later, after he had tossed the AR-15 from his car. In early November, police in Summerville, South Carolina, were on the lookout for suspects in incidents at two separate Walmarts, where display cases had been smashed with a hammer and the AR-15s and other assault rifles inside them stolen. And these are just a few of the incidents involving guns or ammunition at Walmart in the past two months. Since the start of 2012, there have been at least fifty shootings in a Walmart store or parking lot, incidents tracked on a blog called Walmart Shootings (walmartshootings.blogspot.com).<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>The possibility that South Bend could end up on that list once again is what has the Reverend Brown so alarmed. For forty-eight years, he has lived with his mother, Bertha, a retired schoolteacher, in a house less than a mile from a Walmart. The neighborhood is a rough one, and he\u2019s seen it get worse; Brown said that the locals sometimes call it Babylon, \u201cbecause ain\u2019t nothing righteous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bertha, who has lived in South Bend for sixty-five years, says the violence is the worst she\u2019s ever seen. \u201cIt\u2019s real sad, because we\u2019ve got a lot of young people, and people are getting killed\u2014every time you look, someone is getting shot,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery time you pick up the paper\u2026. I don\u2019t know who\u2019s doing it, and they can\u2019t seem to catch these people, but the guns are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For four months last summer, Reverend Brown\u2019s prayer group, nicknamed the God Squad, walked around town sticking three strips of tape (symbolizing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) with anti-violence messages onto telephone poles. The group was \u201cpraying that we could cease the violence, cease the drama. And it worked in some areas,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut I\u2019m going to be honest with you: we\u2019re at an all-time high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So when he saw the weapons for sale at Walmart, Brown took action. He called the chief of police and members of the City Council, who in turn applied pressure on local Walmart managers. In response, the chain promised the city in writing, in June, that it would no longer sell assault weapons in South Bend.<\/p>\n<p>Brown thought the problem was solved. Then, this past fall, his phone rang: \u201cI had a parent call me and say, \u2018Mr. Brown, they\u2019re selling them.\u2019\u201d He went back to Walmart, and indeed, the weapons were still on display\u2014without much in the way of security. \u201cI saw the glass unsecured,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThe employee who worked there said, \u2018I only work part-time back here.\u2019 He opened the glass\u2026. This guy left the cabinet open and walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This time, Brown came prepared: he\u2019d brought a police officer and a reporter for the local ABC station with him. They took pictures, and the reporter did a story that made waves in South Bend. Walmart apologized and promised to fix the error.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A month later, Brown said he\u2019d heard from a police officer that the combat-style weapons were being sold inside the packed store on Black Friday. He said he\u2019ll keep up the fight and plans to visit the City Council again to ask for tougher action. \u201cI\u2019m not against guns; I\u2019m not trying to go against the NRA,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut I\u2019m against the way they sell them. You can go in Walmart at 3:30 in the morning and you can\u2019t buy a can of beer. But you can walk in there to the ammunition [counter] and buy as many boxes as you want. I have a problem with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other anti-violence activists are disturbed by Walmart\u2019s ballyhooed expansion into urban markets like Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Reno, Detroit and other cities. That, combined with the increased gun sales, could be a recipe for disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The chain says it won\u2019t sell guns at those stores\u2014a condition of approval for a new Walmart in Washington, DC\u2014but Bertha Lewis is wary. Even if that turns out to be true, the guns are likely to be sold at a Walmart somewhere else in the area. \u201cGuns are a scourge in black and brown and low- and moderate-income communities,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAnd here comes Walmart with Mr. Smiley Face: \u2018Here, here\u2019s a $5 sweater\u2014and, oh, by the way, you can get this gun.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis thinks the gun sales will soon be a new front in the activist campaign against Walmart. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see it more and more and more as folks organize against Walmart,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of their vulnerabilities is their stance on guns. Don\u2019t try to sell me an apple and a gun at the same time. Don\u2019t tell me that you\u2019re trying to give fresh fruit and vegetables to people so that they can have a healthy life, and then you turn around and on the next counter you have instruments of death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Also in this issue, the editors say nothing like the Newtown massacre ever needs to happen again and Katherine S. Newman examines \u201cThe Roots of a Rampage.\u201d<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=405\">Darializa Avila Chevalier Wants \u201cBabies, Not Bombs\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=407\">Free-Speech Fraud Bari Weiss Would Rather Deport Than Debate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<footer>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>                Submit a correction<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>                Send a letter to the editor<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>                Reprints &amp; permissions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2><i>Support <\/i>The Nation<i>\u2019s June Fundraising Campaign<\/i><\/h2>\n<p>With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn\u2019t \u201cthink about Americans\u2019 financial situation,\u201d millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-\u201cd\u201d populist ideas\u2014not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Nation<\/i> elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court\u2019s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.<\/p>\n<p><b>We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we\u2019re raising $20,000 to power <i>The Nation<\/i>\u2019s independent journalism in the run-up to November\u2019s immensely consequential elections.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you\u2019ll donate today.<\/p>\n<p>Onward, <\/p>\n<p><span>Katrina vanden Heuvel<br \/>Editor and Publisher, <i><span>The Nation<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span> The Nation<svg>\n<\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span>Founded by abolitionists in 1865, <em>The Nation<\/em> has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=403\">What Should Be Done With America\u2019s Slave Mansions?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p><input\/><br \/>\n<input\/><br \/>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n<p>Ad Policy<br \/>\n<!-- <a class=\"inifiniteLoader\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/new_infi_loader.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a> -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nation Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Nation Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Atlas Living Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\"},\"headline\":\"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409\"},\"wordCount\":3068,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409\",\"name\":\"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":907},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?p=409#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Atlas Living Media\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/atlaslivingmedia.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media","og_description":"The Nation Magazine","og_url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409","og_site_name":"Atlas Living Media","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"15 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc"},"headline":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America","datePublished":"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409"},"wordCount":3068,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409","name":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America - Atlas Living Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-23T05:37:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/14d1c590c3fe474aaddad88947c510dd.jpg","width":1440,"height":907},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?p=409#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Walmart Helped Make the Newtown Shooter&#8217;s AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/","name":"Atlas Living Media","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6233854b1f92a6d21147fe5d5e58abc","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com"],"url":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaslivingmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}