Kroger Asking Customers To Stop Openly Carrying Guns In Its Grocery Stores
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Despite Open Carry being law in Texas since 2016, Kroger is now asking customers not to carry guns into its stores.
Stopping short of banning weapons at the grocery chain, the company officially made the request just hours after Walmart made a similar announcement.
In a statement a company spokesperson said, "Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers."
Kroger says it will also call on lawmakers to pass gun reform laws "that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence."
Fred Meyer, a supermarket chain in the Pacific Northwest owned by Kroger, stopped selling guns and ammunition at its stores last year. The move came after the deadly mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
At that time Fred Meyer officials said the decision was made "after evaluating changing customer preferences and the fact that there have already been efforts to steadily reduce this category in Fred Meyer stores over the last several years".
Officials with Kroger Co. haven't said how they plan to enforce the gun request.