A coalition of gun-reform advocacy groups on Wednesday released a scorecard that gives letter grades to 29 retailers based on their in-store gun policies, their public stance on gun safety and their donations to top National Rifle Association-backed politicians. Just three companies — Kroger (KR), Old Navy (GPS) and Walmart (WMT) — received As... The project is meant to push retailers to "lean into gun reform," said Igor Volsky, founder and executive director of advocacy group Guns Down America, which headed the project.

 ... In light of increasing gun violence in America, retailers have been steadily changing their tune... the second half of 2019 saw a major and public shift in the retail industry's involvement in the gun debate... After a mass shooter killed 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas... Guns Down America and other advocacy groups, along with employees and customers, pressured the company to stop allowing customers to openly carry guns in its stores. Several weeks later, Walmart agreed, enacting a no-open carry policy and setting off a wave of other retailers doing the same... [A] group of 145 business leaders signed a letter in September demanding the US government take action on gun violence... "During a period of federal inaction, large American businesses have a responsibility to do everything they can to keep their customers and their employees alive," Volsky told CNN Business. "Because as Walmart tragically learned firsthand, the risk of having 393 million guns in civilian hands in the United States is really real."