Walmart says it will discontinue the sale of handgun ammunition and also publicly request that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in stores even where state laws allow it.

The announcement comes just days after a mass shooting claimed seven lives in Odessa, Texas and follows two other back-to-back shootings last month, one of them at a Walmart store.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based discounter said Tuesday it will stop selling short-barrel and handgun ammunition after it runs out of its current inventory. It will also discontinue handgun sales in Alaska, marking its complete exit from handguns and allowing it to focus on hunting rifles and related ammunition only.

Walmart is further requesting that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms at its stores unless they are law enforcement officers. 

Walmart stopped selling assault-style weapons in 2015 and raised the minimum age to buy firearms and ammunition to 21, from 18, in 2018. It stopped selling handguns everywhere but in Alaska in 1993, and ended its sales of rifles like the AR-15 in 2015.

Walmart will continue selling long-barrel deer rifles and shotguns, much of the ammunition they require, as well as hunting and sporting accessories and apparel. 

"We believe these actions will reduce our market share of ammunition from around 20% to a range of approximately 6 to 9%," CEO Doug McMillon said.

McMillon, who described himself as a gun owner, also repeated his recent call on U.S. lawmakers and the White House to debate an assault weapons ban. "As we've seen before, these horrific events occur and then the spotlight fades. We should not allow that to happen. Congress and the administration should act," McMillon said. "The status quo is unacceptable."

(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)