CINCINNATI -- Kroger Co. has joined Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart in tightening its policy on gun sales after a school shooting killed 17 in Parkland, Florida.
The Wall Street Journal reports the Cincinnati-based grocery chain will stop selling guns to anybody under 21 at 43 Fred Meyer locations, mostly located in western states.
"Recent events demonstrate the need for additional action on the part of responsible gun retailers," the company wrote in a statement to CNBC. "We believe these are common sense steps we can take immediately that are in line with our values and our vision."
On Wednesday morning, Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest sporting goods retailer, announced it would stop selling assault-style weapons and raise its minimum age for gun purchases to 21. Walmart quickly followed, also raising its minimum age to 21.
Read the full statement from Kroger below.
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.
We follow all state and local laws regulating the sales of sporting-related firearms at our select general-merchandise Fred Meyer stores.
Recent events demonstrate the need for additional action on the part of responsible gun retailers. We are raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase firearms and ammunition in all of our Fred Meyer locations that sell firearms. We stopped selling assault-style rifles in our Oregon, Washington and Idaho Fred Meyer stores several years ago and we will no longer accept any special-orders of these 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.
We believe these are common sense steps we can take immediately that are in line with our values and our vision.
