Customers who shop at Colorado’s 148 King Soopers and City Market stores are being asked to “no longer openly carry firearms” into the stores, echoing a move made by retail rival Walmart a day earlier.
In its announcement, Cincinnati-based Kroger, the parent company of King Soopers and City Market, said its request applies to anybody who shops in its stores with the exception of law enforcement officers.
“Our No. 1 priority is the safety of our associates and customers,” Kelli McGannon, a King Soopers spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
The announcements from Kroger and Walmart come in the wake of a series of mass shootings in the country over the last month — the most recent in Odessa, Texas that claimed seven lives over the weekend.
King Soopers, in its statement, said it is “joining those encouraging our elected leaders to pass laws that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence.”