Last last night the Starbucks Twitter account tweeted out a link to an open letter written by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. His letter opens…
Dear Fellow Americans,
Few topics in America generate a more polarized and emotional debate than guns. In recent months, Starbucks stores and our partners (employees) who work in our stores have been thrust unwillingly into the middle of this debate. That’s why I am writing today with a respectful request that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas.
That sound you hear is a can of batsh*t crazy wingnut worms being opened.
Schultz goes on…
Our company’s longstanding approach to “open carry” has been to follow local laws: we permit it in states where allowed and we prohibit it in states where these laws don’t exist. We have chosen this approach because we believe our store partners should not be put in the uncomfortable position of requiring customers to disarm or leave our stores. We believe that gun policy should be addressed by government and law enforcement—not by Starbucks and our store partners.
Recently, however, we’ve seen the “open carry” debate become increasingly uncivil and, in some cases, even threatening. Pro-gun activists have used our stores as a political stage for media events misleadingly called “Starbucks Appreciation Days” that disingenuously portray Starbucks as a champion of “open carry.” To be clear: we do not want these events in our stores. Some anti-gun activists have also played a role in ratcheting up the rhetoric and friction, including soliciting and confronting our customers and partners.
For these reasons, today we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas—even in states where “open carry” is permitted—unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel.
The comments are open on Schultz’s post and the all guns, all the time crowd is predictably bent over what they of course view as an egregious violation of their 2nd Amendment rights.
And of course the comments on the Starbucks Facebook page are equally dumb…
Seriously, people…do you really need to carry an unconcealed weapon to get a f*cking latte? Jesus.
(Pic via Tupungato/Shutterstock)