UPDATE:

A spokesperson for Walmart revealed to TMZ that guns and ammo will be restocked one day after they were removed from stores. “The guns are back in stores,” the news outlet reports. “A spokesperson for Walmart says the civil unrest from earlier this week ‘remained geographically isolated’ so the retail giant has made the decision ‘to begin returning these products to the sales floor today.’”

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Walmart has temporarily removed guns and ammo from its store shelves citing “civil unrest,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (Oct. 29). In an emailed statement, a spokesperson from the mega-corporation explained that customers will now only be able to access firearms by special request.

“We have seen some isolated civil unrest and as we have done on several occasions over the last few years, we have moved our firearms and ammunition off the sales floor as a precaution for the safety of our associates and customers,” the representative said. “These items do remain available for purchase by customers.”

Only about half of Walmart stores in the U.S. sell firearms to begin with, primarily in locations with “large concentrations” of hunters or similar customers, the statement noted.

The announcement arrives amidst intense protesting efforts in Philadelphia and less than a week before the presidential election. Walmart previously enacted similar temporary measures after George Floyd was killed in police custody, prompting nationwide protests.

This week, over 91 people have been arrested and another 11 have been shot in demonstrations in Philly. At least 30 police officers were also wounded in the unrest, as reported by REVOLT. The protests began after Walter Wallace Jr. — a Black man who struggled with mental illness — was fatally shot by two police officers.

The mayor of Philadelphia imposed a citywide curfew earlier this week to curb protesters and the National Guard arrived in the city on Friday (Oct. 30).

“I don’t condone no violence tearing up the city [or] looting of the stores,” Wallace’s father, Walter Wallace Sr., told Fox 29. “I would feel like everybody having respect for my family and my son [should] stop this violence and chaos that’s going on in this city with people that have businesses.”

“That’s all I’m sending out… an S.O.S. — to help, not to hurt, and cause no chaos, violence [or] looting,” he added. “I wasn’t brought up like this. I worked 33 years with the city… with the street department picking up trash to try to keep this city clean.”