Since 2020, there have been about 500 shootings at major supermarket chains in America, study finds

• High-profile mass shootings have highlighted the issue of violence within grocery stores.
• Guns Down America is calling on large retailers to do more to stop gun violence.

Supermarkets have become a battleground as the United States continues to grapple with mass shootings. And some gun-control advocates are challenging companies to do more.

When a white supremacist gunman murdered 10 people at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York last month, the store became just the latest retailer to experience a deadly mass shooting. In recent years, mass shootings have also occurred at King Soopers in Boulder, Colorado, a Weis Markets in Eaton Township, Pennsylvania, and a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. But even beyond these high-profile mass shootings, supermarkets have long been the target of gun violence, according to exclusive data from gun-control advocacy group Guns Down America. By analyzing media reports, the group found that nearly 500 incidents involving firearms have happened in large grocery chains in the past two years.

Specifically, Guns Down America used the Gun Violence Archive to track "gun incidents" and gun deaths from January 1, 2020 to May 14, 2022. It found a total of 448 incidents and 137 deaths across 12 large national retailers. Guns Down America estimated that the numbers come out to four shootings a week at large supermarket chains.

"There's a whole range of actions they can take in order to be part of the solution — not only on a moral level, but also more specifically, on a more pragmatic business level," Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, told Insider. "That's the philosophy of this campaign. During a period of federal inaction, retailers who are directly impacted businesses must help lead if they care about the safety of their customers, employees, and communities."

Guns Down America shared with Insider the messages that it sent out to companies like Walmart, calling on the companies to cut ties with NRA-funded lawmakers and to instead lobby for gun-violence prevention.

Walmart — the largest retailer in the United States — saw the most violence, including 310 gun incidents, and 89 firearm-related deaths.

Kroger saw 36 gun incidents and 16 deaths. Ahold Delhaize's Food Lion and Stop & Shop saw a combined total of 29 incidents and eight deaths. Safeway experienced 22 incidents and seven deaths, Publix saw 16 incidents and five deaths, and Aldi had nine incidents and four deaths. ShopRite, H-E-B, Meijer, Whole Foods, and Costco were also included in the analysis.

Volsky said that the numbers were "artificially low" because many gun incidents never "make it into the news." The retailers on Guns Down America's list did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Volsky told Insider the shootings that his group tracked at supermarkets fall into several categories. Most of the deaths were homicides, although there were a few suicides included as well. The shooting incidents included escalating disagreements between armed parties, armed robberies, and random shootouts.

Volsky said businesses are left with traumatized employees and customers, higher turnover and insurance rates and the lingering perception that the shopping environment isn't safe.

"This is as much a business issue as it is a moral issue and a political issue," Volksy said. "Businesses across America need to start acting like it."