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Everytown For Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action Applaud Kroger’s Decision to Prohibit Open Carry in its Stores

9.3.2019

Moms Demand Action Volunteers Started a Campaign to Ask Kroger to Prohibit Open Carry Using #GroceriesNotGuns in 2014 

Earlier Today, Walmart Announced its Decision to Prohibit Open Carry and Limit Ammunition Sales in Wake of El Paso Mass Shooting

NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown, applauded Kroger’s announcement that it will prohibit open carry of firearms in its stores. Kroger’s announcement followed Walmart’s announcement earlier today that it will limit ammunition sales and prohibit open carry in its stores. In 45 states, it’s legal to carry loaded firearms in public with no permit or safety training. Prohibiting open carry in stores will help to keep Kroger and Walmart shoppers and employees safe. Both retailers took steps after ongoing conversations about increasing store public safety with Everytown and Moms Demand Action. 

“After five years of pressure from Everytown and Moms Demand Action, Kroger has finally acknowledged that Americans expect action on gun safety, and Congress should take note when it returns next week,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Senate lawmakers must take a cue from America’s business leaders and pass meaningful gun safety reform – Americans won’t fall for hollow, ineffective half-measures.”

“Today the nation’s two largest retailers took major steps to keep Americans safe when we’re shopping,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Moms Demand Action volunteers have been asking Kroger to stop allowing open carry in their stores for years, and today, Kroger joined Walmart in standing on the side of public safety. We thank Kroger for listening to Moms Demand Action volunteers — and everyday Americans across the country — who are sick and tired of fearing for their lives when they turn down the aisle in the grocery store and see a man with a rifle strapped to his back. We’re grateful to business leaders for protecting their customers — now, it’s time for Congress to protect their constituents.”

Moms Demand Action volunteers have been asking Kroger to stop allowing open carry in its stores since 2014, when volunteers gathered more than 300,000 signatures for a petition calling for Kroger to prohibit open carry. 

Today, both Kroger and Walmart joined a long list of companies that have taken the step to prohibit open carry in stores. In response to Moms Demand Action campaigns, businesses such as Target, Starbucks, Chipotle and many others have taken this common-sense step.