The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kroger urges shoppers: Please don’t open carry
Grocery chain also presses for tougher background checks.
K roger followed W al martin asking customers not to display their fifirearms in stores located in“open carry” states, becoming the latestbig chain to re shape its business around gun reform amid a spate of mass shootings.
The nation’s two biggest grocers also are pushing for tougher background checks, bowing to public pressure building since deadly shootings at Walmarts in El Paso, Texas, and Southaven, Mississippi, claimed 24 lives and wounded dozens this summer.
“Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized lawenforcement offifficers,” Jessica Adelman, group vice president of corporate a ff ff ff ff ff ff airs, said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday. “We are also joining those encouraging our elected leaders to pass laws that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence.”
Only California, Florida, Illinois and the District of Columbia generally bar people from openly carrying guns inpublic. Therest of the country allows some form of open carrying, but standards — including whether a license is needed or what kind of fifirearms are allowed to be openly carried — vary from state to state. Often, there are exceptions toopencarry laws for certain locations, such as schools orpublic transportation.
The announcement came hours after Walmart’s. But the Bentonville, Arkansas- based retailer went further, saying it would stop selling ammunition for military-styleweapons and complete its exit fromthe handgun business.
The company had been under pressure from gun- control advocacy groups, politicians and its own employees since the two store shootings. Roughly40white-collarworkers in California walked offff the job to protest Walmart’s gun policies last month, and e-commerceworkers inPortland, Oregon, and in Brooklyn, NewYork, urgedthecompany to stop selling fifirearms and organized a Change.org petition, whichhas garnered more than 150,000 signatures.
“In a complex situation lacking a simple solution, we are trying to take constructive steps to reduce the risk that events like thesewillhappen again,” Walmart’s ChiefExecutive DougMcMillon said in amemoto employees Tuesday. “The status quo is unacceptable.”
The decisionwas a blowto gun-rights advocates, some of whomhad been showing up at Walmart locations carrying guns on their hips in the hope that the retailer would not shift its policies.
W al mart sells guns in about half of its 4,750U.S. storesbut stopped selling military-style riflfles favored bymass shooters in 2015. But until now, it made up about 20% of the ammunition market. Now that share could fall to as little as 6%, the company said. Walmartwill continue selling long-barrel deer rifles and shotguns, as well as other fifi rearms and ammunition for hunting andsports shooting,
In the wake of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people, Kroger announced it would stop selling guns to customers younger than 21 at the company’s FredMeyer grocery stores in the Pacifific Northwest, then decided to stop selling guns and ammunition altogether. Dick’s SportingGoods also banned sales of assault weapons in its stores after Parkland.
“A year ago, Kroger made the conscious decision to completely exit the firearm and ammunition business when we stopped selling themin our Fred Meyer stores in the Pacifific Northwest,” Adelman said in the statement to CNBC.