For years, Chris Tenpenny has looked across his counter at Nashville Sporting Arms and made judgments about who was fit to purchase a gun.
"I’m not required to sell to anyone," said Tenpenny, the owner of the West Nashville store. He describeshimself as "selective, but not arbitrary" about who he sells firearms to, sometimes denying a customer he believes isn't prepared to handle a gun.
In light of a deadly high school shooting last month involving a 19-year-old suspect in Parkland, Fla., Tenpenny said he has no plans to change his policy on selling rifles to customers under 21, despite federal law permitting him to do so.
But young gun-buyers will now see changes at multiple national retailers — two with a big presence in Tennessee —who sell firearms on a much larger scale than Tenpenny's shop.
As President Donald Trump and some lawmakers have proposed raising the minimum purchase age for gunsin light of the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead, both Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart announced on Wednesday that they would no longer sell firearms to customers under the age of 21, with Dick's also deciding to no longer carry assault-style rifles orhigh-capacity magazines.
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Krogeris also banning gun sales at its Fred Meyer stores to anyone younger than 21, though the stores are located inAlaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Federal law already prohibits handgun sales to buyers under 21.
The retailers' announcements have been met with mixed reactions from shoppers in Tennessee — customers who have the choice to take their business elsewhere.
Store owners: Shooting discussions haven't had dramatic effect on sales
The policy changes by Dick's and Walmart could lead to increased sales at other stores, including locally-owned shops like Nashville Sporting Arms and Royal Range, which are both on Charlotte Pike.
But so far, amid the changes in policiesby private businessesand the resumed discussions on gun control by lawmakers, Nashville's independently-owned gun stores haven't yet seen an uptick in traffic as they have after some other mass shootings.
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Sales have been fairly consistent the last two weeks with year-over-year traffic during tax return season.
"This is tax time of the year," said Art Cason, a retired police officer from West Tennessee who works as general manager of Royal Range."There’s always an influx there.”
Cason said Royal Range saw much more of a response after the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, for example, branching into more sales to members of the LGBT community, who wanted to defend themselves, than its historically conservative base of customers.
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More:Here's what Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack wrote about his company's actions
After a fatal shooting in September that killed one person and injured seven at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Cason said the store experienced an uptick in interest in its security and safety training, especially from churches wanting to be prepared for an active shooter scenario.
Neither shop is considering sweeping changes of current sales policies, saying they plan to continue following current lawand exercising other rights they have as retailers.
In Middle Tennessee, mixed response to big box restrictions
In Tennessee's General Assembly, House Majority Leader Glen Casada, R-Franklin, didn't offer criticism of the two major retailers' decisions to limit gun sales to those over 21.
“That’s the good thing about private free enterprise, free market," Casada said."Each entity decides for themselves without government telling them what to do.”
Butsome of the retailers' customers in Middle Tennessee view the decision as unnecessary, and, to an extent, unfair to young adults.
"You either are an adult or you’re not," William Jones, a college professor, said outside the Walmart in Ashland City.
"An 18-year-old can enter into a contract, enlist, do anything they want to do except drink and purchase guns," said Jones, 48, who himself enlisted in the military at 18."I don’t understand why someone can enlist in the military, but still be treated as a child at 18."
Joshua Biggs, 34, of Springfield, is an associate at Walmart.
Outside the store on Thursday, Biggs didn't have much of an opinion on his company's decision to change its policy, but rather focused on his frustration with residents and politicians focused on passing tighter restrictions on gun sales.
“Everybody’s worried about gun laws, and gun laws, and gun laws, and they’re not taking into consideration the fact that it’s not the guns that’s killing," Biggs said. "It’s people. They need to hold these people accountable for what they’re doing, not the guns and not law-abiding citizens."
But at a Dick's Sporting Goods in Rutherford County, shopper Tyree McLain, who moved to Tennessee for his work in the Army, said he supported the business's decision, even believing the policy change will make a dent in stopping more mass shootings.
"That’ll stop a lot of shootings, because kids can’t just walk in here and buy a gun and do whatever," McLain said.
Bryan Travis, of Murfreesboro, had different feelings about the the store prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from buying guns.
“I think it’s ridiculous, I don’t think it’s going to change anything," Travis said. "I think people are still going to find ways (to kill) other than using assault rifles, so I don’t think it’s going to matter at all.
"They’re welcome to their choice.You can always shop somewhere else.”
Jordan Buie, Kelly Fisher, Mariah Timms and Nicole Young contributed to this report.
Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com and Jake Lowary at jlowary@tennessean.com.