Kroger latest retailer to put gun restrictions in place

NEW YORK — Kroger will no longer sell guns to anyone under 21 at the stores it owns, becoming the third major retailer this week to put restrictions in place that are stronger than federal laws. The moves by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart — and retribution on Delta Air Lines by lawmakers — emphasizes the pressure companies are facing to take a stand.

The nation’s largest grocery chain has sold guns from 44 of its Fred Meyer stores in the West, but said Thursday that since a mass shooting last month at a Florida high school that killed 17 people, it’s become clear that gun retail outlets must go beyond what current U.S. laws require.

In a company release, Kroger Co. said, “In response to the tragic events in Parkland and elsewhere, we’ve taken a hard look at our policies and procedures for firearm sales.”

The change comes a day after Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods, both prominent gun sellers, tightened company policies, and also a day after students returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for the first time since the attack. In addition to increasing the age to purchase guns and ammunition, Walmart said it would stop selling items “resembling assault-style rifles,” such as airsoft guns.

Companies like Dick’s had already changed gunsale policies in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, but the most recent school shooting in Florida has opened a fissure between a portion of corporate America and organizations like the National Rifle Association.

MetLife, Hertz,Delta and other major U.S. corporations have already cut ties with the National Rifle Association, and at some political risk.

Georgia lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that effectively punishes Delta Air Lines for cutting ties with the NRA, following through on Republican vows to deny a tax break worth an estimated $38 million for the company after it ended discounts for NRA members following the Florida massacre.

The NRA has pushed back on calls for raising age limits for guns or restricting the sale of assault-style weapons.