Kristen Bell sparked un unlikely conflict with fellow actress Candace Cameron Bure in her latest social media post.
The Good Place actress took to Instagram to repost the announcement that Dick’s Sporting Goods would no longer sell assault-style rifles or high capacity magazines, and raised the age to purchase firearms to 21 years.
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She also penned her own note of praise for the company, who opted to restrict its gun sales after admitting to selling a gun to confessed Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz last year (though it was not the AR-15 he used in the Feb. 14 attack.)
“Heres an example of something better than thoughts and prayers. Bravo, [Dick’s Sporting Goods] for your common sense, humanity, open ears and willingness to change. We need more corporations like you,” she wrote alongside the message. “Thank you Ed Stack, CEO of [Dick’s Sporting Goods] for protecting our kids.”
While more than 200,000 of Bell’s fans double-tapped the post and wrote similar praise to Dick’s in the comments, Fuller House actress Bure expressed her issue with the progressive caption.
“How about instead of diminishing prayers (which are powerful), you re-caption ‘in addition to prayers’ here is something really great…” argued the actress, who is often outspoken about her Christian faith.
While most users acknowledged Bure’s point of the power of prayer, they sided with Bell’s approach to action following the deadly events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, during which a 19-year-old killed 17 former classmates and teachers.
“Your prayers can be important and powerful if they bring you to action— to many Americans at this time seem to think that merely by praying they’ve ‘done their part’ and go about the rest of their day. How can we encourage more people to move from prayer to action?” one commenter wrote.
Another replied to Bure, writing, “Prayers may be powerful, but I’ll take action over prayers when it comes to keeping our kids safe. Why make an issue out of someone’s wording, when that someone is simply spreading the news of much needed change?”
Dick’s CEO Edward Stack opened up about the company’s decision to cease the sale of assault-style rifles and tighten restrictions on firearm sales to The New York Times on Wednesday.
“When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset. We love these kids and their rallying cry, ‘enough is enough.’ It got to us,” Stack said. “We’re going to take a stand and step up and tell people our view and, hopefully, bring people along into the conversation.”
Shortly after news of the shooting broke, Stack says that the retailer began scouring records, soon discovering that it had legally sold a gun to Cruz in November, though it was not type of gun used in the massacre.
“But it came to us that we could have been a part of this story,” he said. “We said, ‘We don’t want to be a part of this any longer.’”
While the company briefly removed assault-style rifles from its retail stores after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Stack says that this time the changes will be permanent, saying, “We don’t want to be a part of a mass shooting.”
“If the kids in Parkland are being brave enough to stand up and do this, we can be brave enough to stand up with them,” he concluded.
Dick’s move comes as several companies have announced the cancellation of their partnerships with the National Rifle Association after the non-profit organization’s has denounced ideas for tighter gun restrictions.
Among those severing ties with the NRA include Delta and United Airlines, MetLife insurance, TrueCar, Avis Budget Group, Enterprise, National and Symantec, who have vowed to discontinue any involvement, donations or support towards the group. FedEx remains one of the few companies refusing to sever ties.
