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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/coffeecity/2011244418_the_brady_campaign_wants_starb.html
Brady Campaign, pro-gun activists disagree at press conference over Starbucks' refusal to ban guns
Posted by Melissa Allison
The Brady Campaign wants Starbucks to ban guns in its stores, and delivered 28,000 signatures to its Seattle headquarters today after a press conference near Pike Place Market.
Before the event, Starbucks issued a release asking not to be put in the middle of the gun controversy.
. . .
Dueling posters carried various slogans, including "Espresso shots not shotguns" and "Gun control kills."
The Brady Campaign asked Starbucks to ban guns after Open Carry advocates appeared at its stores in California to make a point about their right to openly carry guns. Other chains where they met, including Peet's Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen, have issued notices that guns are not allowed -- either at all or on display -- in their shops unless you're a police officer.
Like many chains including McDonald's, Starbucks complies with local laws.
"The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores," it said in a release. Adopting a ban on openly carrying guns would force its employees, which it calls partners, "to ask law abiding customers to leave our stores, putting our partners in an unfair and potentially unsafe position."
OpenCarry.org is a Web site started in 2004 that describes itself as "a pro-gun Internet community focused on the right to openly carry properly holstered handguns in daily American life." More than 27,000 members are registered for its online discussion forum.
Co-founder Mike Stollenwerk of Virginia said member meetings take place all over the country -- including in Washington -- but that he is not familiar with how Starbucks was chosen for meetings in California.
In California, Open Carry members frequently protest the fact that they cannot openly carry a loaded gun. They show up at Starbucks and other chains with unloaded guns. In Washington and many other states, loaded guns can be carried openly with a permit.
Stollenwerk is not sure how Open Carry members in California chose Starbucks for their meetings, but said they used to meet at Peet's Coffee. "That's where the Open Carry group started to coagulate, because it's a convenient place to have a coffee and whatever those things they microwave are," he said.
After Peet's told them they were not welcome, they went to Starbucks.. . .
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/coffeecity/2011244418_the_brady_campaign_wants_starb.html
Brady Campaign, pro-gun activists disagree at press conference over Starbucks' refusal to ban guns
Posted by Melissa Allison
The Brady Campaign wants Starbucks to ban guns in its stores, and delivered 28,000 signatures to its Seattle headquarters today after a press conference near Pike Place Market.
Before the event, Starbucks issued a release asking not to be put in the middle of the gun controversy.
. . .
Dueling posters carried various slogans, including "Espresso shots not shotguns" and "Gun control kills."
The Brady Campaign asked Starbucks to ban guns after Open Carry advocates appeared at its stores in California to make a point about their right to openly carry guns. Other chains where they met, including Peet's Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen, have issued notices that guns are not allowed -- either at all or on display -- in their shops unless you're a police officer.
Like many chains including McDonald's, Starbucks complies with local laws.
"The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores," it said in a release. Adopting a ban on openly carrying guns would force its employees, which it calls partners, "to ask law abiding customers to leave our stores, putting our partners in an unfair and potentially unsafe position."
OpenCarry.org is a Web site started in 2004 that describes itself as "a pro-gun Internet community focused on the right to openly carry properly holstered handguns in daily American life." More than 27,000 members are registered for its online discussion forum.
Co-founder Mike Stollenwerk of Virginia said member meetings take place all over the country -- including in Washington -- but that he is not familiar with how Starbucks was chosen for meetings in California.
In California, Open Carry members frequently protest the fact that they cannot openly carry a loaded gun. They show up at Starbucks and other chains with unloaded guns. In Washington and many other states, loaded guns can be carried openly with a permit.
Stollenwerk is not sure how Open Carry members in California chose Starbucks for their meetings, but said they used to meet at Peet's Coffee. "That's where the Open Carry group started to coagulate, because it's a convenient place to have a coffee and whatever those things they microwave are," he said.
After Peet's told them they were not welcome, they went to Starbucks.. . .
