8 major retailers including Walmart, CVS, and Aldi are banning open carry of firearms in stores in the wake of deadly shootings

Walmart started the wave of changes on Tuesday when it said it would ask shoppers not to openly carry firearms in its stores.

The company also announced that it would stop selling ammunition for handguns and certain rifles. Walmart plans to stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state that the retailer currently sells handguns.

"We know these decisions will inconvenience some of our customers, and we hope they will understand," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a memo.

Walmart's policy will be enforced differently in stores across the country based store manager's discretion, a Walmart spokesperson told Business Insider — and those who openly carry guns in stores won't necessarily be asked to leave right away.

Walmart's announcement set off a domino effect among other retailers across the country in the following days. 

Kroger made a similar announcement regarding its open-carry policy in its stores just hours after Walmart. 

"Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers," Jessica Adelman, Kroger's vice president of corporate affairs, said in a statement.

Walgreens said in a statement on Thursday that it would no longer permit its shoppers to openly carry firearms in its stores, joining Walmart and Kroger in shifting policies related to carrying guns. 

"We are joining other retailers in asking our customers to no longer openly carry firearms into our stores other than authorized law enforcement officials," the statement reads.

The company also praised anti-gun violence advocacy group Moms Demand Action and its founder Shannon Watts on Twitter for the group's advocacy on gun-related issues. 

Shortly after Walgreens made its announcement, CVS jumped on the bandwagon and made its own policy change known via Twitter.

The drug store chain stated that it was joining "a growing chorus of businesses in requesting that our customers, other than authorized law enforcement personnel, do not bring firearms into our stores."

CVS notably goes one step further by including concealed carry as well in its request.

Wegmans, another grocery chain, publicly asked its customers to stop carrying firearms in its stores on Twitter Thursday.

"There's nothing more important than the safety of our customers & employees," the chain tweeted from its official account. "The sight of someone with a gun can be alarming, and we don't want anyone to feel that way at Wegmans. For this reason, we prefer that customers not openly carry firearms into our stores."

Meijer, a grocery chain that operates in the Midwest US, announced a similar request via Twitter on Monday.

"The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, so we respectfully request that our customers do not open carry firearms at Meijer," the chain wrote in a post on its official account.

International grocery chain Aldi tweeted Monday on Monday that it would also prefer its customers not to open carry in its stores.

"At ALDI, the safety of our employees, customers and the community is our highest priority. Alongside many other businesses, we are asking that our customers refrain from openly displaying firearms in any of our stores, except for authorized law enforcement personnel," the company tweeted from its US- based account.

"Publix respectfully requests that only law enforcement officials openly carry firearms in our stores," the grocery chain said in a statement to CNN on September 11.