After Walmart and Kroger earlier this week urged customers not to openly carry firearms in their stores, drug store giants Walgreens and CVS, along with the Wegmans Food Markets announced Thursday that they were joining in making the same request, continuing a movement among major stores concerning gun violence.
"We are joining other retailers in asking our customers to no longer openly carry firearms into our stores other than authorized law enforcement officials," Walgreens stated.
"We join a growing chorus of businesses in requesting that our customers, other than authorized law enforcement personnel, do not bring firearms into our stores," CVS added.
"The sight of someone with a gun can be alarming, and we don’t want anyone to feel that way at Wegmans," the food store said in a statement, saying they 'prefer that customers not openly carry firearms.'
"Thank you, @Walgreens for rejecting gun extremism and putting public safety first," tweeted Shannon Watts, a leader of the gun control group, Moms Demand Action.
“Our grassroots army of volunteers has helped convince some of America’s most prominent brands to stand up for public safety by strengthening gun policies in their establishments,” the group said earlier this week.
The new moves on guns came first from Walmart - as officials there said they would soon stop selling ammunition for handguns and other weapons, as company leaders also weighed in on open carry.
"We believe the opportunity for someone to misinterpret a situation, even in open carry states, could lead to tragic results," said Walmart chief Doug McMillon on Tuesday.
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