Parkland moms plan national shopping day to thank Dick’s, Walmart for ending gun sales

Mothers of victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in February are using Mother’s Day as an opportunity to thank Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart for changing their gun policies.

Families from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are organizing a national “Shop In” day at the retailers on May 12, the Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

“The moms and wives were talking about this day being difficult for us, and we wanted to find a way to focus on something else and pay it forward,” April Schentrup told the South Florida newspaper.

Schentrup’s 16-year-old daughter Carmen was one of the 17 people killed by a gunman inside the school on Feb. 14.

{mosads}“Right after our situation, Dick’s and Walmart stepped up to the plate and made that business decision what we felt should happen in regard to preventing other families from going through the same thing,” Schentrup said.

Just two weeks after the shooting, Dick’s announced that it would stop selling assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines.

Both Dick’s and Walmart raised their minimum age for gun and ammunition purchases to 21 years.

Dick’s CEO Edward Stack acknowledged at the time that while his company did not sell to the suspect the weapon used in the shooting, Nikolas Cruz had bought a shotgun from them before.

“When we looked at that and we found out that we did this, we had a pit in our stomachs and said we don’t want to be a part of this story and … we are not going to sell these any longer,” Stack said in February.

In an announcement on Twitter, the Parkland moms said they chose Mother’s Day for a reason.

“This holiday will be a very difficult one for us after such a devastating loss, so please help us to turn this weekend into a positive one,” the group said.

Please help us get the word out:

Join the Parkland 17 Moms/Wives for a National “Shop-In” at DICK’S Sporting Goods and Walmart on Sat, May 12th (Mother’s Day weekend). pic.twitter.com/pnOQutbbPb

— April Schentrup (@AprilSchentrup) May 3, 2018

Schentrup told the newspaper that she doesn’t know how she’ll get through the day but plans on going shopping.

“We definitely want to support them and their quick response to making change and we want our lawmakers to do the same,” Schentrup said.

The companies have faced criticism for their new policies. 

A 20-year-old Oregon man filed lawsuits against the two retailers after he was turned away from purchasing a gun.