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Walmart Examines Role in Confronting Gun Violence

Employees circulate message calling for end to chain’s gun sales; retailer has no plans to change policies

Walmart Inc. ’s chief executive said he was rethinking the company’s role in confronting gun violence in the wake of two deadly shootings at Walmart stores, but didn’t offer specific plans or changes to its firearms and ammunition sales.

“We will work to understand the many important issues that arise from El Paso and Southaven, as well as those that have been raised in the broader national discussion around gun violence,” Doug McMillon wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening. “We will be thoughtful and deliberate in our responses.”

Mr. McMillon spent Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, meeting with Walmart employees who worked at the store where 22 people were killed in Saturday’s attack. Last week, in Southaven, Miss., a Walmart employee who had been suspended the previous weekend shot and killed two other workers at a company’s store.

His visit and Facebook message come as the retail giant is facing pressure from some employees and antigun activists to halt its sales of firearms or prohibit shoppers from carrying guns in stores.

Walmart is one of the country’s biggest sellers of guns. The retailer’s selection is focused on hunting rifles and shotguns. Since 2015, it hasn’t sold assault-style weapons and only sells handguns in Alaska. Last year, after a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., Walmart raised the minimum age to purchase guns or ammunition to 21.

“There are no plans at this time” to change policies around gun sales, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said.

Two of the company’s workers in San Bruno, Calif., on Monday circulated a message to all e-commerce staff and the companywide Slack channel calling for a general strike to protest “Walmart’s profit from the sale of guns.”

Thomas Marshall, an e-commerce merchandiser in the corporate e-commerce office in California, and a co-worker later called for a walkout among corporate employees Wednesday afternoon and encouraged colleagues to sign an online petition asking Walmart to stop selling guns, allowing shoppers to carry guns in stores or donating to politicians with high ratings from the National Rifle Association.

On Tuesday afternoon, the company suspended Mr. Marshall’s and a co-worker’s access to its internal systems, he said. Managers told him they would restore access “on stipulation you will not use it for non-work activities,” the 23-year-old said in an interview.

Mr. Marshall said around 50 workers from the company’s California and New Jersey offices have sent messages of support. Some plan to protest the company’s gun policies Wednesday at 3 p.m. local time at its offices in San Bruno; Hoboken, N.J.; and in Portland, Ore., he said.

The company believes “there are more constructive ways for associates to offer feedback such as emails or conversations with leaders,” said Walmart’s Mr. Hargrove. The company will restore the two workers’ computer access when they return to work, Mr. Hargrove said.

Mr. Marshall said he still didn’t have access to the internal system as of Wednesday morning.

The debate is more evidence of the difficult balancing act Walmart navigates as it works to improve its reputation with shoppers and diversifies its workforce, adding offices around the country to attract more technology talent. The political divide in the country is increasingly pulling Walmart, the country’s largest retailer and largest private employer, into weighing in on social issues such as gay rights, immigration and gun violence.

Mr. McMillon has spoken out in support of creating an inclusive workplace and store environment, themes that he reiterated this week. “We are proud to be woven into the American fabric as a place for all people,” he wrote Tuesday. “We are more resolved than ever to foster an inclusive environment where all people are valued and welcomed.”

But any change to its gun policies risks alienating Walmart’s core customers, who often live in more conservative-leaning rural and suburban communities. The company faced some consumer backlash after raising the minimum age to purchase guns to 21.