Kroger, whose Fred Meyer stores sell firearms at a few dozen stores in Oregon and elsewhere, will stop selling guns and ammunition to people younger than 21 years old.

The nation's largest grocery chain has sold guns from 44 of its Fred Meyer stores in the West, but said Thursday that since a mass shooting last month at a Florida high school, it's become clear that gun retail outlets must go beyond what current U.S. laws requires.

Students returned this week to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida for the first time since a troubled teenager killed 17 people there last month.

Fred Meyer stores stopped selling assault-style guns in Oregon, Washington and Idaho "several years ago," according to a statement. Special orders for those guns are now unavailable in Alaska.

Northwest chain Bi-Mart has also said it will no longer sell guns and ammunition to people under the age of 21. Retail heavyweights Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods have taken steps to restrict gun sales, as well.

Dick's said Wednesday it will immediately stop selling assault-style rifles and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21. Its CEO took on the NRA by demanding tougher gun laws.

Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, followed by saying it will no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21. It had stopped selling AR-15s and other semi-automatic weapons in 2015.

Read the full statement below.

Policy Update: Firearm Sales pic.twitter.com/v7qwaMgcQJ — Kroger News (@KrogerNews) March 1, 2018

— Staff and wire reports

Jim Ryan and Lizzy Acker of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report