As Christopher mentioned in Morning News (and my what a lovely job Christopher is doing; he should write Morning News every week!), Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has posted an open letter "respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas—even in states where 'open carry' is permitted."

Starbucks' reversal of policy is the story, of course. Starbucks had allowed open carry in its stores in states that allowed open carry. But then the gun nuts had to be such incredibly dicks about it. So no more.

But what really stood out to me from Schultz's blog post was his explanation for why this new no-guns policy is voluntary:

First, this is a request and not an outright ban. Why? Because we want to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request—and also because enforcing a ban would potentially require our partners to confront armed customers, and that is not a role I am comfortable asking Starbucks partners to take on.

Which gets to the heart of the whole reason to open carry: to intimidate other people. Of course one wouldn't feel comfortable asking an armed customer to leave. They might shoot you. That's the implied threat. Likewise, nearly every other social interaction. Are you gonna argue with some guy carrying an assault rifle who, say, cut in front of you in line?

I know open carry is supposed to be about rights or self defense or something. It's not. It's about intimidation. So thank you, Starbucks, for standing up to the bullies.