Kroger Asks Customers to Leave Guns at Home

Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, is standing alongside Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, when it comes to weapons in stores.

On Tuesday, Kroger issued a statement that stopped just short of banning customers from openly carrying weapons in stores (as the practice is legal in some states), but strongly requested that they leave their guns at home when they go grocery shopping.

“Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers,” Kroger said in a statement. “We are joining those encouraging our elected leaders to pass laws that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have found to pose a risk for violence.”

Kroger previously had gone along with local laws regarding open carry, but in 2018 it stopped the sale of guns to customers under the age of 21 in its Fred Meyer locations.

The announcement came just hours after Walmart announced it planned to exit the handgun market and would no longer allow customers to openly carry firearms in stores. That came after the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart that killed 22 people and wounded dozens more.