A 20-year-old Oregon man has filed a lawsuit against Dick’s Sporting Goods, accusing the retailer of age discrimination for not selling him a rifle.
The age limit to buy a firearm legally in Oregon is 18.
But Dick’s raised its age limit for firearms purchase to 21 after the February 14 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school. The shooter in the massacre was 19.
So when Tyler Watson walked into a Field & Stream store owned by Dick’s in Medford, Oregon, on February 24 intending to buy a .22-caliber rifle, he was told no based on the retailer’s new policy, his lawsuit says.
The suit says Dick’s action amounts to age discrimination.
“By denying Plaintiff the sale of a rifle and/or ammunition for a rifle based on Plaintiff’s age, Defendant has committed illegal age discrimination in public accommodations in violation of ORS 659A.403,” says the suit, filed Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court in Oregon.
ORS 659A.403 is the Oregon law that protects residents against discrimination based on age, race and other criteria. The statute says the state can ban the sale of marijuana and alcohol to minors — but it doesn’t mention guns.
Watson’s suit asks a judge to force Dick’s to stop “unlawfully discriminating against 18, 19, and 20 year-old customers at all Oregon locations.”
He is also seeking punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
CNN reached out to both Dick’s and Watson’s attorney, Max Whittington — but hasn’t heard back.