Kroger has joined the growing ranks of retailers and private companies doing their part to address the nation's school gun violence epidemic, The Daily Beast reports. America’s largest supermarket chain announced yesterday that it will stop selling guns to people under 21 at a number of its Fred Meyer locations.
Just so you know, it’s already illegal for licensed sellers to sell handguns to anyone under the age of 21. However, federal law allows them to sell any kind of rifle to anyone above the age of 18. That’s how the Marjory Stoneman Douglas gunman got his hands on an AR-15, even though he was just 19 years old.
The move comes just after Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart made similar announcements. And believe it or not, it’s a policy 45 supports, even though the NRA is decidedly against it. Forty-three locations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state will be affected by the decision. The move admittedly comes “in response to the Parkland, Fla., high-school tragedy,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
Kroger has proven to be ahead of the curve (and Congress) when it comes to sensible gun control policies—not that that’s saying much. Last year, the company stopped selling assault-style rifles at store locations in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and more recently, Alaska. As per the spokeswoman, “Recent events demonstrate the need for additional action on the part of responsible gun retailers.” And by recent events, I hope she means not just the tragic violence, but Congress’s apparent inability to do anything about it themselves.
