A trio of anti-gun U. S. Senators are attempting to bully Kroger Corporation into banning open carry in their stores, regardless of state and federal laws.

Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Kroger Co. CEO, W. Rodney McMullen, on Tuesday asking him to implement storewide policies that would prevent individuals from openly carrying firearms into Kroger locations.

“We write today to urge you to adopt a policy that would prohibit the open carry of firearms in your stores,” the letter stated. “In doing so, Kroger would be sending an important message about your commitment to the safety of your employees and customers.”

The senators cited recent events, where Kroger customers have brought assault rifles while shopping.

“Gun extremists in several states have exploited the current Kroger policy by flaunting assault rifles as they shopped. These bizarre displays must be terrifying for Kroger employees and customers,” the senators wrote. “The current Kroger policy allows for these demonstrations.”

To the best of our knowledge, there was one incident of AKM open carry in a Kroger in Texas, more than a year ago. No laws were broken, and to the best we can determine, none of the customers or employees were even alarmed by the incident.

In respond to this one-off non-event that would have been unknown except for a social media post discovered almost a year later by a gun control group, these rabid, unreasoning, and serially dishonest politicians are attempting to bully Kroger into adopting a store policy that will force employees to go beyond state and federal laws. They would put Kroger employees in the awkward position of having to confront customers and tell them that even though they not breaking any laws of any kind, that they are no longer valued customers.

Instead of creating an inclusive environment, these bullying Senators are attempting to divide Americans by ostracizing those who chose to exercise their right to legally and safetly bear arms.

There have been no incidents of violence or intimidation associated with lawful open carriers in or around the chain’s stores, and the drive to outlaw open carry is entirely the work of Bloomberg-funded Moms Demand Action, a group that seems powerful as a social media presence, but which can rarely turn out more than 20 protesters in even the most populous of cities, and which managed a sad showing of just 156 souls ( a substantial number of them being media) as they attempted to protest the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this past summer.

Gun rights are expanding in the United States, with concealed and/or open carry legal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in some form or fashion. More than 57,000 business welcome gun owners as customers, some of them even offering discounts to gun owners as a “thank you” for the crime deterrent that lawful carriers represent.

Once again, Blumenthal, Murphy, and Feinstein are on the wrong side of history, rushing headlong in opposition to the human and constitutional right to armed self-defense as they hide behind their own armed security.