NYC Church to Take Walmart to Court In Spring Over Gun Sales

A church in New York City is making headlines as it prepares to square off against massive retailer WalMart in court this spring regarding the chain's sale of guns with high-capacity magazines similar to firearms used in recent mass killings.

Trinity Church, an Episcopalian house of worship located in lower Manhattan, New York City, filed the lawsuit against Walmart in April of last year. The church, which holds $300,000 in Walmart shares, argues in the lawsuit that the chain retailer should have a board vote on certain products its sells, such as firearms with high-capacity magazines.

The lawsuit points to mass killings that have rocked the U.S. in recent years, including those in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut, saying guns with high-capacity magazines have "enabled many mass killings."

According to Forbes Magazine, the lawsuit asks Walmart's board to allow a vote on "products that especially endanger public safety and well-being, risk impairing the company's reputation, or offend the family and community values integral to the company's brand."

If Trinity is successful in its lawsuit, a proposal would be added to Walmart's annual shareholders' meeting that would "require the governance committee of Wal-Mart's board to more closely examine the sale of products that might endanger public safety."

"There is a substantial question regarding whether these guns are well suited to hunting or shooting sports; it is beyond doubt that they are well suited to mass killing, and tragically more effective for the latter purpose, than are the handguns equipped to fire ten or fewer rounds that the company chooses not to sell except in Alaska," Trinity adds in the lawsuit.