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Winner: Ed Stack
Normally, we’d be averse to congratulating a billionaire on anything, as most of their advocacy and actions make the world harder for working people of all creeds. But this year we made an exception for Ed Stack, Sewickley resident and the CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods. After the Parkland Shooting in 2018, Stack enacted a series of changes to restrict gun sales at his more than 850 stores. Dick’s stopped carrying assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, destroyed the remaining stock, and the stores increased the minimum age for purchasing guns to 21. This led to an online backlash and short term losses of more than $250 million for Stack’s company. In the long run, the move will likely prove to be financially beneficial, but the statement it sent was more powerful than dollars and cents. In a country where Congress and state legislature can’t pass any gun-control laws of substance, despite their broad popularity, it’s admirable to see someone with considerable influence take any sort of a stand against gun violence.
This article appears in Dec 26-31, 2019.
