Kroger's Fred Meyer Stores to 'Phase Out' All Gun Sales

Major supermarket chain Kroger has announced that they will "phase out" all gun sales in their Fred Meyer chain.

Kroger owns 43 Fred Meyer grocery stores that sell firearms. Those stores are located in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and reportedly they have had gun sales that "continue to decline."

"Fred Meyer has made a business decision to exit the firearms category," Kristal Howard, a spokesperson for the stores, said in a statement on Monday.

CNN reports that the decision was made "after evaluating changing customer preferences" as well as "softening consumer demand" for guns over the past several years.

"More recently Fred Meyer has been transitioning away from gun departments as a result of the ongoing work to optimize space in Fred Meyer stores," the company said.

This new news comes on the heels of Kroger announcing that they will stop selling guns to anyone under the age of 21.

Previously, the stores discontinued selling assault-style semiautomatic rifles in the Oregon, Washington and Idaho locations.

The largest supermarket chain in the United States, Kroger joins Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods in updating their gun-age policy in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

As has been widely reported, on Valentine's Day, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and opened fire, killing 17 students and teachers. Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each of the people he confessed to murdering.

Shortly after the shooting, the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to California's 10-day waiting period gun law.

Considered to be the second longest in the nation, California's "cooling off period" was put into place to allow state authorities sufficient time to run background checks as well as give anyone who might be purchasing a firearm with the intent of harming themselves or someone else an opportunity to "cool off."

Jeff Silvester and Brandon Combs, two California gun owners, have challenged the law, saying that they do not believe it should apply to individuals who have already been through the process of legally owning a gun, according to The Hill.

In addition to the 10-day waiting period challenge, the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge over a California law requiring that a portion of every $19 transfer fee on gun sales go to support "enforcement efforts against illegal firearm purchasers through California's Armed Prohibited Persons System."