LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — If you're carrying a gun, Florida's largest supermarket chain doesn't want to see it.

Publix Supermarkets is joining a growing number of retailers in asking customers not to openly carry firearms in its stores.

There are 46 Publix stores throughout Middle and East Tennessee.

Publix said in a statement Wednesday that it requests that only law enforcement officers openly carry firearms in its supermarkets.

The Lakeland, Florida-based chain has 1,226 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

In the months after the 2018 massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, Publix came under fire from survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for donating to the campaign of a Florida gubernatorial candidate aligned with the National Rifle Association.

The students held "die-ins" at two stores in South Florida.