Kroger, one of the nation’s largest grocers, said Tuesday it wants its customers to not openly carry firearms inside its stores.

The policy decision comes on the heels of a similar request by rival Walmart.

“Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers,” a company spokesman said in a written release.

Further, Kroger said it planned to ask lawmakers to reform gun laws to help “strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence.”

Kroger’s website lists that the company operates 31 food stores and 2 convenience stores in Mississippi and employs nearly 4,800 people.

The moves by companies to change their policies comes in the wake of a string of shootings across the company. Walmarts were scenes of two shootings, including a domestic, work-related shooting at the Southaven, Mississippi, location in July.

Days later, a gunman went on a shooting spree at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing dozens.

As the country remains on heightened alert, police often are being called to cases in which a person appears to be open-carrying a firearm. Sometimes these are simply law-abiding citizens, other times the persons have mental issues, such the case of a man detained outside a Petal, Mississippi, Walmart last month.