Posted on 03/03/2010 12:51:17 PM PST by PurVirgo
SEATTLE – Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it's legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.
The company's statement, issued Wednesday, stems from recent campaign by some gun owners, who have walked into Starbucks and other businesses to test state laws that allow gun owners to carry weapons openly in public places. Gun control advocates have protested.
The fight began heating up in January in Northern California and has since spread to other states and other companies, bolstered by the pro-gun group OpenCarry.org.
Some of the events were spontaneous, with just one or two gun owners walking into a store. Others were organized parades of dozens of gun owners walking into restaurants with their firearms proudly at their sides.
Now, gun control advocates are protesting the policy. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, launched a petition drive demanding that the company "offer espresso shots, not gunshots" and declare its coffeehouses "gun-free zones." And Wednesday, that group planned to deliver 28,000 signatures to the coffee giant's headquarters in Seattle.
The group also held a press conference near Seattle's Pike Place Market, just a few yards away from the where the first Starbucks cafe opened. Gun rights advocates showed up as well, some carrying handguns in holsters around their waists.
"They're putting their workers in harm's way by allowing people to carry guns into their stores, especially open carry," Mantel said.
More than a dozen pro-gun supporters, some with Starbucks coffee cups in hand, chanted during the press conference, at points interrupting speakers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Kudos to Starbucks for having some sense :)
Smart move. Half of their customers are conservatives.
“Smart move. Half of their customers are conservatives.”
Do you think? We tend to be a little more...ahhhhh...fiscally conservative...
Any credence to the email thats floating around where a group of soldiers asked Starbucks for some coffee delivered during a flight layover?
Starbucks allegedly replies “thank you for enjoying our coffee but unfortunetaly we do not support the war nor anyone in it.”
I think the email was legit, but was the isolated view of whoever was typing at the computer at that store at that time.
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I find that hard to believe.Although I have no hard stats (if any exist) my gut tells me that the majority...very probably a large majority...of Starbuck's customers are "progressives".
Among the many things that leads me to that conclusion is this....think about your last visit there.Picture in your mind the front display and focus on the bottles water they sell.It's called "Ethos",IIRC.And on the bottle the maker boasts of how a percentage of what they make from the product goes to bringing clean water to Third World countries.
This clearly means that Starbucks believes (correctly,I'll wager) that their typical patron can't even take a swig of water without feeling guilt.
The left snaps hardest against anyone they think might be leaving the “plantation”.
Guns and coffee are a bad idea, especially espresso. It gives you the shakes and causes poor aiming of the hanguns.
The Left want to rob and rape people and get away with it.
Smart move. Half of their customers are conservatives.
Smart move. Nothing like pissing off an armed customer after he has had a couple of double latte’s. Those caffine people get a might edgy.
I agree with you. Not many good ole boys in the Starbucks.
More of the square-glasses-wearing sushi-eating types in there.
For me, that’s for sure. I never have coffee before going to the range.
“Guns and coffee are a bad idea, especially espresso. It gives you the shakes and causes poor aiming of the hanguns.”
I only drinks it when I got my shotgun...
One man’s bait is another man’s sushi...
No true conservative would pay 4 bucks fer a cuppa joe.
Yah,that too. ;-)
Yeah... quite regularly me and the guys from the lumber yard get together for a late night poker game. Right before the strippers come over we have a delightful snack of sushi and espresso.
not
How do you have sushi before it shows up?
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