Being anti-gun in America is, as a general rule, not good for business, be you a politician or an actual business.

Just ask Dick’s Sporting Goods, who decided to concern troll the public about how awful firearms are to the general public after the Parkland shooting. It’s CEO announced that they would no longer be responsible for selling AR-15’s and made a show of being a “common sense legislation” supporter of guns coming with all the government control nonsense you would expect someone who uses that kind of language to have.

The only problem was that Dick’s Sporting Goods wasn’t really being bold with their cessation of AR-15 sales. They only sold the rifles through 35 locations after discontinued selling them from their normal locations over a year ago, and even then, not many people were going to that store to buy that product. It was all a giant virtue signal that only displeased Americans.

Dick’s stock dropped 7.3 percent, and while that could have been considered a fluke, it’s proving not to be. Their stock is continuing to dip according to The Daily Wire:

The sporting goods retailer was forced to confront angry shareholders late last week after its stocks tanked more than 4.5% and financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded Dick’s shares, from “overweight” to “neutral.”

“Gross margin-driven upside appears less probable given 3Q’s performance, changing comparisons, and rising inventory levels,” an analyst for J.P. Morgan told CNBC. The same analyst noted that same-store sales for Dick’s outlets are expected to grow less than 1% even as the company’s inventory rises.

“The analyst pointed out that Dick’s same-store sales growth for 2019 is expected to be less than 1 percent after averaging 2.1 percent between 2011 and 2015. He also noted that while the company’s 25 percent Black Friday store discount will help boost sales, it will not boost margins,” the analyst continued. “Inventory levels, meanwhile, rose 1 percent in the third quarter after falling 5 percent in the first half of 2018 with inventory days estimated to return back to 2015-2017 levels.”

Dick’s says it can trace the downturn not just to an overall retail downturn, but also directly to its decision to take action on “gun control,” banning the sales of “assault-style” rifles at its Field & Stream affiliated retailer and discontinuing any gun sales to people under the age of 21.

It was a mistake for Dick’s to involve itself politically in the first place, but its leadership took a highly uncalculated risk by posing as the company who stands with gun control advocates. Much of the people who engage in outdoor activities aren’t the kind that is going to be too friendly with statist ideals.

This is evidenced by the fact that hunters have largely abandoned Dick’s according to the Daily Wire:

Dick’s has seen a decline in sales of its hunting gear overall — such a decline that they’re considering removing hunting and outdoors equipment from all of their stores in order to boost their bottom line and cull some of their excess inventory.

The lesson is clear. People love their guns. If attacking guns didn’t work for Obama, it definitely won’t for you.