MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- The gun safety advocacy group Mom’s Demand Action is running a series of provocative full-page ads in newspapers nationwide, including in today’s Tennessean.
The ad is aimed directly at the Kroger food store chain, one of the nation’s largest retailers. The ad shows two men standing in a grocery store aisle. One is a young man carrying a skateboard, the other has an assault type rifle slung over his shoulder.
The ads ask the question: “One of them isn’t welcome at Kroger. Guess which one?”
Kathleen Wright is a spokesperson for the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action. She says the group is asking Kroger to ban guns in their stores.
“Moms want to say that we are there to buy groceries. We don’t want to see people carrying guns through the aisles. It doesn’t seem necessary and we want to be safe when we’re shopping there with our families.”
Wright says former New York Mayor and gun control advocate Michael Bloomberg is paying for the campaign. The ads are appearing nationwide in USA Today as well as in a number papers.
Earlier this year, Mom’s Demand Action successfully campaigned to convince Target to ban guns in its stores. The chain now asks customers to avoid bringing weapons into its stores, but doesn’t actively enforce the policy.