Kroger raises minimum age for gun purchases at Fred Meyer stores

Kroger announced Thursday that it will raise the minimum age for gun purchases at its Fred Meyer stores to 21 years of age.

The company also announced in a statement obtained by CNBC that it will no longer sell ammunition to anyone under the age of 21.

“Kroger’s vision is to serve America through food inspiration and uplift,” the grocery store chain said in its statement. “In response to the tragic events in Parkland and elsewhere, we’ve taken a hard look at our policies and procedures for firearm sales.”

The company, which operates Fred Meyer stores in Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, said it previously stopped selling assault-style rifles in three states and would no longer accept special orders of those firearms in Alaska stores.

{mosads}“We believe these are common sense steps we can take immediately that are in line with our values and our vision,” Kroger said.

The move comes after the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, announced Wednesday it would no longer sell guns and ammunition to those under 21 years of age. It also pledged to remove items from its website “resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the nation’s largest sporting goods retailers, also announced this week it would stop selling assault-style rifles, just weeks after a deadly mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead and more than a dozen others injured.

President Trump on Wednesday urged Congress to considering increasing the minimum age for buying rifles, from 18 to 21.

“This is not a popular thing to say in terms of the NRA, but I’m going to have to say it. … I think it’s something you have to think about,” Trump told a bipartisan group of lawmakers during a White House meeting, referring to the National Rifle Association.

The suspected Parkland shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, allegedly used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Federal law enforcement officials have said the gun was purchased legally.

The NRA has opposed increasing the minimum age for gun purchases, and some Republican lawmakers have also opposed the idea.

Updated at 9:42 a.m.