Kroger is the third major company to place restrictions on gun sales, raising the minimum purchasing age to 21.
The announcement follows the moves of Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods yesterday to limit gun and ammunition sales to buyers under 21.
Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the nation, sells guns in 44 of its Fred Meyer, stores in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.
Kroger is the third retailer to announce it will raise the age needed to purchase a gun to 21 and it will stop making special order assault-style weapon, store pictured above in Mississippi
Kroger owns the nation’s largest grocery chain Fred Meyer, pictured above, which sells guns in 44 of its locations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska
Kroger follows the steps of Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Guns who announced earlier this week their changes in gun sales, rifles pictured for sale in a non-Kroger store in Nevada above
The grocery company released a statement saying their gun reform was in response to the devastating murder of 14 students and 3 staffers at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
On Thursday the company say that in response to the Florida school shooting, gun retailers are responsible to take action.
Kroger said it will raise the gun-purchasing age to 21, which will be reinforced with background checks, and end special orders for assault-style guns in Alaska.
‘Kroger’s vision is to serve America through food inspiration and uplift. 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 company said in a statement.
‘We have a thorough and vigilant background check process for the sale of sporting-related firearms at our select general-merchandise Fred Meyer stores. In addition, firearms are sold only by designated associates that go through rigorous training and federal background checks,’ the statement said.
‘We are raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase firearms and ammunition in all of our Fred Meyer locations that sell firearms,’ the statement said.
Kroger also stopped selling assault-style rifles in Oregon, Washington and Idaho Fred Meyer locations years ago and announced it will no longer accept special orders for the spoken weapons in Alaska.
‘Through Restock Kroger, we have a robust space optimization effort underway in many of our stores, including Fred Meyer locations. As we refresh stores we are often transitioning gun departments due to softer demand and changing customer preferences,’ the statement said.
‘We believe these are common sense steps we can take immediately that are in line with our values and our vision,’ the statement added.
Kroger shared an statement of their changes on social media Thursday afternoon
Kroger, pictured above in Mississippi, announced the changes in gun sales in response to the Parkland, Florida high school massacre
There are 133 Fred Meyer locations across the nation.
‘We follow all state and local laws regulating the sales of sporting-related firearms at our select general-merchandise Fred Meyer stores,’ spokeswoman Kristal J. Howard said to the New York Times.
‘Recent events demonstrate the need for additional action on the part of responsible gun retailers,’ she added.
Yesterday Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it too would raising the buying age to 21 and stop sales of assault-style weapons.
On a similar vain, Walmart, the largest retailer in the country said it also would raise the gun-purchasing age and that it had already stopped the sale of assault-style weapons years ago.
In a statement, Walmart said that it will continue to adhere to a policy in place since 2015 of banning the sale of ‘modern sporting rifles’ like the AR-15 – the semi-automatic weapon used by the gunman in the Parkland shooting as well as other incidents.
On Wednesday Dick’s Sporting Goods announced they too were raising the gun-purchasing age to 21 as Florida gunman Nikolas Cruz purchased one of his guns at a Dick’s location
Mega-retailer Walmart announced on Wednesday that it would no longer sell guns and ammunition to anyone under the age of 21
Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor and student activist David Hogg took to Twitter to thank the companies for their strides in gun reform
Actress Debra Messing thanked the companies that chose to respond to the Parkland shooting on Twitter, unlike other companies such as FedEx who have refused to divest from the NRA
Twitter users were quick to praise Kroger for their announcement and actions for change
CEO Edward Stack looked at pains as he described the company’s disgust over the Parkland shooting and announces changes for Dick’s Sporting Goods
‘We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys,’ Walmart said.
‘Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way,’ the statement said.
On Wednesday Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would immediately end sales of assault-style rifles in its stores and will also raise the gun-purchasing age to 21.
Nikolas Cruz, the gunman of the Parkland, Florida shooting, bought one of his weapons at a Dick’s.
It was not the AR-15 he used in the killings but CEO Edward Stack said he should not have been able to purchase any weapons in the first place.
Stack spoke to Good Morning America saying that ‘it’s time to do something’.
‘Following all of the rules and laws, we sold a shotgun to the Parkland shooter in November of 2017. It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting. But it could have been.
‘Clearly this indicates on so many levels that the systems in place are not effective to protect our kids and our citizens.
‘We believe it’s time to do something about it
‘We will no longer sell assault-style rifles, also referred to as modern sporting rifles. We had already removed them from all DICK’S stores after the Sandy Hook massacre, but we will now remove them from sale at all 35 Field & Stream stores.
‘We will no longer sell firearms to anyone under 21 years of age,’ he said on air.