Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, said it will stop selling guns and ammunition to customers who are younger than 21 years old. Kroger sells guns at 43 of its 133 Fred Meyer locations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The move follows similar age restrictions taken by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Wal-Mart.
It is already illegal for licensed gun sellers to sell handguns to anyone under the age of 21, but it is legal under federal law to sell rifles of any kind, including assault-style, to anyone 18 or older.
Kroger’s full statement is 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.”
