Today’s Action: Demand stores implement a ban on firearms

In just over a month, we have experienced four mass shootings in our country:

• the Gilroy Garlic Festival in CA, which left three dead and 12 wounded
• a traffic light shooting spree in Odessa, TX, seven killed and 20 wounded
• at a bar in Dayton, OH, nine killed and 27 wounded
• at a Walmart in El Paso, TX, 22 killed and 26 wounded

41 dead by mass shooting, 85 wounded, in just over a month, not counting the thousands more deaths and injuries by gun violence that have occurred outside the headlines.

As we continue to fight for increased gun safety regulations with our federal and state leadership, there’s much more we can do to keep our public spaces safe: demand it from businesses as consumers.

Of the 30 largest retailers in the United States, only one – Costco – has an outright ban on firearms in stores. The rest either request that you do openly carry firearms (read: not an actual ban and not a peep about concealed carry) or have no official policy at all. Thus, our lives are in the hands of potential murderers choosing whether or not to follow a polite suggestion.

Browse the list below for stores you frequent. Contact those companies and tell them to put your safety first: anything less than an outright ban (like Costco) is unacceptable.

A request (not a ban) against open carry firearms:

• Kroger (incl. Fred Meyers, Ralph’s, Smith’s and more). Search here for Kroger-company stores near you.
• Albertsons (incl. Safeway, Jewel Osco, Vons, Amigos, and more). Click here and scroll down to see all Albertsons-company stores.
• Walmart, even after 22 customers were murdered at their El Paso store in August
• Royal Ahold Delhaize (incl. Giant, Food Lion, Peapod, and Hannaford)
• Starbucks (which requests no guns, including concealed carry, but does not ban either)
• Plus Walgreens, CVS, Target, Publix, Aldi, H-E-B Grocery, and Meijer

Companies who have declared zero policy whatsoever:

• TJX (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods)
• Macy’s

Companies who have stayed absolutely silent:

• Amazon (stores), Lowe’s, Apple stores, Best Buy, McDonald’s, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Verizon, Kohl’s, Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell), Ace Hardware, Wakefern/Shoprite, 7-Eleven, AT&T

Whether it’s your favorite grocery store, place to shop for back-to-school, or your local Starbucks, your safety – and not a friendship with the NRA – should be the highest priority. Contact the companies on the above list that affect your daily life the most, and tell them an outright ban on firearms is the only acceptable gun policy.