Kroger followed Walmart in asking customers not to display their firearms in stores located in “open carry” states, becoming the latest big chain to reshape 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 that has been building since deadly shootings at Walmart stores in El Paso, Texas, and Southaven, Miss., 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 law enforcement officers,” Jessica Adelman, group vice president of corporate affairs, 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 in public. The rest of the country allows some form of open carrying, but standards — including whether a license is needed or what kind of firearms are allowed to be openly carried — vary from state to state. Often, there are exceptions to open-carry laws for certain locations, such as schools or public transportation.
The announcement came hours after Walmart’s. But the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer went further, saying it would stop selling ammunition for military-style weapons and complete its exit from the handgun business.
