Posted on 02/13/2010 4:27:55 AM PST by Solitar
In case you missed it ... A gun-control group has been circulating a petition demanding that Starbucks ban guns in its stores. Today, the Brady Campaign announced it has gathered more than 25,000 signatures.
"We urge Starbucks to respect the rights of the vast majority of its customers, who seek to take their families into its stores without facing the intimidating presence of openly carried guns," Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, said in a statement.
This all started when word spread that advocates of openly carrying guns in public were meeting at Starbucks in and around California's Bay Area.
"We're just a bunch of citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights, which if you don't use them, you'll probably lose them," Open Carry advocate Gus Konstantaras told ABC News last month.
California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee and Tea have just banned guns in their restaurants. Starbucks has not. But it gave this statement to Melissa Allison at The Seattle Times:
For Starbucks, the safety of our customers and partners is our paramount concern. We have existing security protocols in place to handle situations related to safety in our stores. We will continue to adhere closely to local, state and federal laws and the counsel of law enforcement regarding this issue.
The Brady Campaign's petition reads:
I demand that Starbucks stand up for the safety of its customers and prohibit guns in your retail establishments. Guns don't belong in restaurants and coffee shops where children and families gather. You have the legal right to keep your coffee shops free from guns. The recent push among some gun owners to carry openly displayed guns, strapped to their hips, is intimidating and potentially dangerous. It puts families and law enforcement officers at risk. Reverse your unwise decision and keep our families safe.
Open Carry advocates laid out the group's case to the San Francisco Chronicle video link
[POLL results at this time]
Should Starbucks ban guns in its stores?
6.8%
Absolutely. They have no business being there.
87.8%
No. People should have the right to carry them
5.4%
Gun rights debates belong in courtrooms, not coffee shops
FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his ghost signs up for the list)
5.8% Absolutely. They have no business being there.
89.7% No. People should have the right to carry them
4.5% Gun rights debates belong in courtrooms, not coffee shops
Total Votes: 4921
Where?
It’s gay, overpriced metrosexual coffee designed for liberals, gays and metrosexuals. If they’re dumb enough to part with their money for fratalian crap that tastes like someone dumped sugar and milk into an asthray, then they’re dumb enough to have emboldened criminals help them part with the rest of their money.
If you live in a county that has less than 100,000 residents you can open carry with the gun loaded, but those counties are few and far between. You can also carry concealed if you are going fishing or coming back from fishing and during fishing(strange they would leave that one on the books)without a permit. Most people in CA are unaware of that law.
We used to go around armed all the time but the liberals gradually sneaked in the laws as they gained power over the state by gerrymandering the districts.
The people that are gathering at various places are merely protesting the paranoia that occurs when ever someone sees a firearm(thanks to the hysterical brainwashing of the left over the last 30 years)as opposed to the way it used to be here in CA by carrying openly, in full compliance with the law(however unconstitutional that law may be), by having the weapons unloaded.
Naturally the anti-gun people are having a cow because people might get these unconstitutional laws repealed.
| FEATURED POLL | ||||||||
|
Should Starbucks ban guns in its stores?
Total Votes: 5004 |
bttt
This is the link to go to for the Poll.
Results so far to the question...
Should Starbucks ban guns in its stores?
5.7%
Absolutely. They have no business being there.
89.9%
No. People should have the right to carry them
4.4%
Gun rights debates belong in courtrooms, not coffee shops
Total Votes: 5055
We're within a few votes of making it 90%.
Should Starbucks ban guns in its stores?
5.7%
Absolutely. They have no business being there.
89.9%
No. People should have the right to carry them
4.4%
Gun rights debates belong in courtrooms, not coffee shops
Total Votes: 5093
I, as a CHL holder, can carry in the most liberal parts of Austin as easily and lawfully as in the most remote parts of West Texas. BTW, we're working on open carry, hopefully in the near future.
A few years ago the liberal attorney general declared it illegal to get a permit in a county other than that in which the permit holder resides. I believe that is unconstitutional but on the other hand so is requiring a permit to carry.
Should Starbucks ban guns in its stores?
5.5%
Absolutely. They have no business being there.
90.1%
No. People should have the right to carry them
4.4% Gun rights debates belong in courtrooms, not coffee shops
Total Votes: 5223
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5.7%