Dick's Sporting Goods, the largest hunting, fishing and athletic gear retailer in the United States, has gotten the ax from the National Shooting Sports Federation over its gun-control stance.

Newtown, Conn.-based NSSF announced May 4 its board had unanimously voted to expel Dick's for "conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Foundation."

Bloomberg News, citing disclosure records, reported May 3 that Dick's had hired Glover Park Group to lobby Congress for gun control measures.

Following the Feb. 14 mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Dick's and other retailers, including Walmart, announced voluntary changes to their gun-sales policies. Dick's said it would raise the minimum wage for gun purchases to 21, stop selling assault-style rifles and destroy its current inventory of them at its 35 Field & Stream stores. It already had ceased selling such weapons at its Dick's-branded stores after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.

But the hiring of Glover Park Group to advocate for gun restrictions was a step too far for NSSF. In February, following Dick's announcement of policy changes, NSSF had simply noted that the retailer was entitled to make individual business decisions.

NSSF refers to assault-style weapons as "modern sporting rifles," an industry term to describe certain semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 used in the Parkland and Newtown shootings.

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