Kroger to stop selling all guns and ammunition

UPDATE:

Kroger subsidiary Fred Meyer says it will stop selling guns and ammunition altogether.

The disclosure is the third move by Kroger to curtail its association with guns in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. high school mass shooting.

In recent weeks, Fred Meyer said it would raise the age limit for guns and ammo purchases from 18 to 21 and Kroger said it would stop selling magazines that feature assault rifles.

The Cincinnati-based retailer, which operates a chain of 132 superstores in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, didn't refer to the tragedy, but said firearms have been a declining sales category for the chain.

At $7 million in annual firearms sales, the catorgy represents less than 1/175th of 1 percent of Kroger's $123 billion in revenues.

"The company is currently working on plans to responsibly phase out sales of firearms and ammunition," the company said in a statement, adding the change follows an evaluation of "changing customer preferences."

Original story:

Kroger said it will stop selling magazines that feature assault rifles as part of a tightening of its policies in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting and growing national anger toward gun violence.

The Cincinnati-based supermarket retailer said the new policy is being phased in now across its national footprint. Kroger didn't name specific titles, but periodicals that have featured assault weapons include: Guns & Ammo, Tactical Life and Recoil.

“We regularly review the company’s assortment of periodicals and make merchandising decisions based on customer preferences,” said Kroger spokeswoman Kristal Howard.

Kroger officials said the latest decision dovetails with the retailer's move a few weeks ago to raise the minimum age to buy guns from its Fred Meyer chain from 18 to 21.

That decision came in the wake of the Feb. 14 Parkland, Florida, school shooting that killed 17 and wounded 14 more.