Posted on 09/19/2013 4:19:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Here’s his letter about it to the company. It’s just a request, not a ban. If he made it a ban, then employees would have to enforce it. And he’s quite candid about his misgivings over putting an unarmed worker in the position of telling someone who’s packing that they’re unwelcome.
Lots of grumbling about this on Twitter this morning, which surprised me. Surely there can’t be that much overlap between fans of open carry and fans of pumpkin spice lattes. Turns out I had missed the news about “Starbucks Appreciation Day” by gun owners last month, though. This isn’t just a change in policy by some random company; this is a company that had been notably respectful of gun rights and commended for it by aficionados deciding that it was all a big mistake. No mystery as to why, either. Sonny Bunch is spot on:
What’s interesting to me is that it’s obvious Schultz has no fear of guns (nor should he; when’s the last time there was a mass-shooting at a Starbucks perpetrated by someone with an open-carry permit?). No. He fears the left. And he doesn’t fear the right.
These are all sensible positions for him to take…
The left … does the politicized life exceptionally well. They mount campaigns to pressure corporations to get what they want. They organize boycotts. They direct their complaints to gatekeepers who share their views and can influence policy. They blacklist artists with whom they disagree and pressure corporations to do the same. They control the levers of the media to add additional pressure from newspapers and television networks.
So there will be a lot of fulmination on social media from those on the right about rights and guns and the Constitution, and then a little less the next day, and a little less the day after that, until finally you forgot why you were mad at Starbucks and you stop tweeting and facebooking and kvetching and start buying pumpkin spice lattes by the bucketful and, in a moment of clarity, you’ll think about how silly it was for you to give up Starbucks in the name of something that literally never impacted you in the first place because you don’t have an open-carry permit.
Exactly. Whatever little extra business Starbucks gets from gun owners on the annual “Appreciation Day” would be washed away by the business lost once the left’s intelligentsia finally decides Something Must Be Done about the company’s tolerance for gun rights. Schultz is getting ahead of a backlash by backing down now so that he doesn’t look even weaker by backing down later after a liberal boycott takes effect. Hopefully this half-assed “request, not a ban” position will mollify them while reassuring gun owners that if they simply can’t bear to be without the pumpkin spice while they have their weapon on them, they’re welcome to come in. Unless your business is designed to be overtly conservative, staying on the left’s good side is usually in your economic interest even if it means alienating righties. Imagine how many wedding-industry professionals have learned a lesson from stories like this one to extend their services to gay couples, whether they have an objection to gay marriage or not.
Exit quotation: “There are times when I feel like America has lost its conscience.”
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Flashback to 1997:
3 Employees Killed At D.C. Starbucks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/march99/starbucks070897.htm
I agree with you and disagree with the author. I believe that gun owners are one of the few traditional American groups who are willing to be vocal and motivated enough to make this cost Starbucks.
Say goodbye to a lot of business.
This is an attempt to have it both ways. Unless they post “no guns” or ask you to leave, it has no legal bearing whatsoever.
Their coffee is burnt anyways. Sound like time to try someone elses coffee. Is dunkins any good?
That's reasonable, but they're talking about open carry, not concealed carry, so if you had a permit it wouldn't be an issue.
I don't disagree, there are restaurants I won't enter for that reason. However you should note that this request pertains to open carry, not concealed. I'm not suggesting that open carry wouldn't deter at attack, however this request in no way deters concealed carry.
An Open Letter from Howard Schultz, ceo of Starbucks Coffee Company
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Posted by Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer
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.
From the beginning, our vision at Starbucks has been to create a “third place” between home and work where people can come together to enjoy the peace and pleasure of coffee and community. Our values have always centered on building community rather than dividing people, and our stores exist to give every customer a safe and comfortable respite from the concerns of daily life.
We appreciate that there is a highly sensitive balance of rights and responsibilities surrounding America’s gun laws, and we recognize the deep passion for and against the “open carry” laws adopted by many states. (In the United States, “open carry” is the term used for openly carrying a firearm in public.) For years we have listened carefully to input from our customers, partners, community leaders and voices on both sides of this complicated, highly charged issue.
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.
I would like to clarify two points. First, this is a request and not an outright ban. Why? Because we want to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request—and also because enforcing a ban would potentially require our partners to confront armed customers, and that is not a role I am comfortable asking Starbucks partners to take on. Second, we know we cannot satisfy everyone. For those who oppose “open carry,” we believe the legislative and policy-making process is the proper arena for this debate, not our stores. For those who champion “open carry,” please respect that Starbucks stores are places where everyone should feel relaxed and comfortable. The presence of a weapon in our stores is unsettling and upsetting for many of our customers.
I am proud of our country and our heritage of civil discourse and debate. It is in this spirit that we make today’s request. Whatever your view, I encourage you to be responsible and respectful of each other as citizens and neighbors.
Sincerely,
Howard Schultz
He is asking people to leave their guns at home. That is all I need to hear.
Get caught with a gun there, and you could be charged with criminal trespass.
Like all liberals, he wants it both ways.
We have two kinds of coffee bags available at the office. I used to pick randomly, not any more.
That’s fine. My read of the letter it’s pretty clear it’s an open carry request, but I understand some people are offended by that. There’s no basis for criminal trespass, they’ve clearly stated open carry is allowed, just not welcomed.
There are far more dedicated second amendment supporters than there are dedicated second amendment opponents.
All the evidence that I can find shows the numbers are pro-second amendment to anti-second amendment are about 5-1.
The only reason there is any controversy is because the “progressives” took over the media for nearly 50 years.
We need to take it back with the new media.
I value my tastebuds much more than anything Starbucks has to offer.
I didn't see anything about "concealed carry" in the letter. Did I miss it? MicroSoft "Word" didn't find it either.
BTW, if you’re not familiar with gunowners “Starbucks Appreciation Day”, you might google it. I can understand a company doesn’t want to be a political advocate.
depending on body language that is a problem which could unconceal a firearm.
I've no problem with Starbucks essentially requesting but not banning open carry, they're a business which seems to be supportive of gun rights, thus the appreciation day. Harming their business is no way to thank them.
Sounds pretty reasonable. But Starbucks loses nothing by my not going there because of this business. I don’t like the price or the quality of their product. One could make the case they’re making a distinction by the multiple use of “open carry” in scare quotes. As it has been stated obviously, if you carry concealed properly they can’t have a problem with it because they don’t know.
Right, which is why 49 states, soon to by joined by my state of residence Illinois, allow concealed carry. They don't know, that's the idea.
I guess what bothers me about this and other articles is that you've got an essentially gun friendly multinational company from not exactly conservative Seattle, and when they ask for no more open carry demonstrations, that was the issue, gunowners are mad at the company from liberal Seattle they honored just a couple weeks ago. Not a smart move from an advocacy perspective.
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