Guns and Gear

Kroger Under Fire For Firearm Policies

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
Font Size:

Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, has been under fire from the Michael Bloomberg-backed gun control group, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America for months — and Senate Democrats are jumping on the bandwagon.

In a letter penned to Kroger’s CEO W. Rodney McMullen, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy pressured the grocer “to adopt a policy that would prohibit the open carry of firearms in your stores… In doing so, Kroger would be sending an important message about your commitment to the safety of your employees and customers.”

The letter, The Hill reports, implies that the sight of openly carried firearms confuses and terrifies Kroger employees.

According to The Huffington Post, Kroger first received attention from anti-gun groups after customers expressed their support for the Second Amendment at some of its Texas locales. The aforementioned protests against bans on openly carrying handguns featured patrons shopping while carrying long-barreled rifles, an act protected under state laws.

Both Senators and Moms Demand Action have cited past shootings occurring on Kroger property as justifiable evidence that the retailer should adopt a zero-tolerance policy regarding the carry of any and all firearms.

However, several of these incidents stemmed from attempted parking-lot muggings, and even HuffPo noted that it was “impossible to say whether these incidents would have happened if Kroger were to advertise a no-gun policy.”

Since the Newton shootings, Moms Demand Action have coerced several other nationwide chains into prohibiting firearms. To date, their wins include Chipotle, Starbucks, Jack In The Box, Panera Bread, Sonic, Chili’s and Target.