Walgreens, CVS Ask Customers to Stop Carrying Guns -- 2nd Update
September 05 2019 - 6:22PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer
Drugstore chains CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance
Inc. and grocer Wegmans Food Markets Inc. on Thursday asked
customers to stop openly carrying firearms in stores, adding to a
growing list of companies that are wading into the debate around
how to reduce gun violence.
"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 said.
"The sight of someone with a gun can be alarming, and we don't
want anyone to feel that way at Wegmans," the grocer's corporate
Twitter account said Thursday.
The statements come two days after Walmart Inc., the country's
largest retailer, asked shoppers to stop carrying guns openly in
stores and said the company will cease sales of ammunition that can
be used in assault-style rifles and handguns. Last month, 22 people
died in a mass shooting in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, prompting
company executives to rethink their policies around gun violence in
the U.S.
Kroger Co. earlier this week also asked shoppers to stop openly
carrying guns after Walmart made its announcement.
In 41 states, it is legal to openly carry a loaded long gun in
public, according to the Giffords Law Center, a gun-control group.
Thirty-one states allow the open carrying of a handgun without a
license or permit, although in some cases the gun must be unloaded.
Most states prohibit carrying firearms in specific locations such
as schools, places where alcohol is served or on public
transportation.
Retailers and other companies face growing pressure from
customers and employees to take a stance on social or public health
issues such as gun violence or gay rights. Advocating for more gun
control can be risky for large companies because of the potential
to offend some percentage of customers. But the majority of
American adults believe that gun laws should be stricter than they
are today, according to a survey late last year by the Pew Research
Center.
Over the past decade, gun-control advocates including Moms
Demand Action have asked various retailers including Kroger, Target
Corp. and Starbucks Corp. to stop allowing customers to openly
carry guns in stores. Those efforts came in the wake of the
popularity of the open-carry movement -- pro-gun activists
encouraging supporters to openly carry firearms in public places to
build support for gun rights.
In 2013, Starbucks asked customer to no longer do so, followed
by Target in 2014.
--Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 05, 2019 19:07 ET (23:07 GMT)
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