Over the last few days, I've made fun of Target for its policy to allow open-carry gun owners to parade the store while simultaneously driving away a few mothers protesting outside their locations. Apparently, Target was right to fear the Moms more than the gun owners and has now officially asked guns owners to keep their guns out (see this Business Week article for more on the subject).
Kudos to Target for this decision which, it must be stated, came after a petition drew 400,000 signatures against carrying guns inside the store. From the article, "Target recognized that moms are a powerful customer base and political force—and you can respect the 2nd Amendment and the safety of customers at the same time."
You have to be a serious gun nut with major blinkers on to not understand that walking around your local department store while an armed man strolls past you is going to make most sane people uncomfortable at the very least.
And let's be honest, how can you tell a law abiding, presumably sane gun owner displaying his piece to shoppers from the not-quite-as-sane one who is going to start killing people? They all look the same.
Target joins other businesses such as Starbucks, Chipotle, Facebook, Jack in the Box, Chili's, and others who have publicly stated they do not want guns on their premises.