With Pressure from Lawsuit, Kroger Announces Firearm Ban
In October 2018, Gregory Alan Bush open fired in a Kroger store in Louisville, Kentucky killing two people. One of the victims was Maurice Stallard, a 69-year-old man who was school shopping with his grandson at the time of the shooting.
With the help of Ron Johnson, attorney here at Hendy Johnson Vaughn Emery, the victim’s family filed a civil lawsuit in August against Kroger, asking the chain to ban guns in its store.
“You don’t need a gun to buy groceries,” our Ron Johnson told CBS This Morning. He also stated, “the duty of a store in Kentucky is to provide a safe place to shop. That is the law.”
The incident at the Louisville Kroger last year is not the first fatal shooting. Since 1991, ten people have died from shootings at Kroger stores across the country.
Given the wave of mass shootings taking place across America, it’s important now more than ever for retailers to take a stand against gun violence.
In an announcement yesterday, Kroger is now asking shoppers to leave guns at home. “Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers,” Cincinnati-based Kroger said on Tuesday.
In states like Ohio and Kentucky where “open carry” of firearms is legal, most retailers simply follow local and state laws as to whether permit gun owners can carry in store. It’s up to property owners to establish what’s acceptable in their stores.
While the details of this new policy at Kroger have not yet been released, we hope to see strict enforcement of the firearms ban immediately. In the meantime, we will continue to fight against gun violence and for justice for the Stallard family.
Hendy Johnson Vaughn Emery – Justice Starts Here!