Starbucks Declares Guns Unwelcome, but Doesn't Ban Them
CEO Letter Thrusts Coffee Chain Deeper Into Debate Over Gun Owners' Rights to Carry Firearms in Restaurants
The request, made in an open letter from Chief Executive Howard Schultz, was a response to intensifying pressure on the company for allowing customers to openly carry weapons in states that permit it. Gun control advocates had criticized the company for its laissez-faire stance, while gun rights advocates had lauded its position.
In his written appeal, posted Tuesday night on the Starbucks website, Mr. Schultz said the tussle, exploited by both sides of the gun issue, has "become increasingly uncivil and, in some cases, even threatening." 英文說明:tussle
Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz
issued an open letter asking customers not to bring firearms into its
stores, responding to growing pressure from both sides of the gun debate
over its policies. Julie Jargon reports on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty
Images.
AP
Open carry gun advocates walk
up Minnesota Avenue to Starbucks July 27, 2013, in Sioux Falls, South
Dakota at a walk organized by Open Carry South Dakota.
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The carefully calibrated statement stopped short of banning guns—as a handful of other retailers have done—at Starbucks's more than 11,000 outlets in the U.S. Mr. Schultz said he wants "to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request" and doesn't want to put employees in the position of confronting armed customers. Starbucks doesn't plan to post signs in its stores asserting its position, a spokesman said.
Still, it prompted fresh argument, winning plaudits from gun control advocates and caused some gun-rights advocates to vow they'll get their java elsewhere. Starbucks has "great coffee, but I'm going to be looking for an equivalent," said David Butler, a 56-year-old family physician in Austin, Texas.
Steve LaBadessa
Starbucks has been at the
center of the debate for years. A gathering of 'open carry' advocates at
a Starbucks in Antioch, Calif., in 2011.
"This is an issue we've been wrestling with for a very long time," Mr. Schultz said in an interview. "I don't think most people expect to see someone walk into a Starbucks with a gun, let alone understand that it's legal to do so in most states… We're not anti- or pro-gun, but we don't believe guns should be part of the Starbucks experience."
Most states allow at least some citizens to carry firearms openly: 29 have no rules prohibiting it, and 15 allow it for those with permits. California allows open carry only in rural areas.
Only five states, plus Washington D.C., explicitly prohibit guns from being openly displayed in public—although local governments in some of the rest of the country also have stricter rules.
Many local governments already restrict people from bringing concealed guns into venues that sell alcohol. Last week, Chicago adopted a ban on concealed weapons in all bars and restaurants that sell liquor.
But others have moved in the opposite direction. In July, North Carolina's governor signed a bill allowing people with concealed-carry permits to bring their guns into bars and restaurants that don't expressly forbid it—a practice that had been previously excluded under its concealed carry law.
For retailers, the issue poses a difficult dilemma. While private businesses are free to bar guns from their premises, only a handful of big chains actually do so, including Costco Wholesale Corp., COST +0.62% CVS Pharmacy, and Chuck E. Cheese's.
Corbis
Last month, gun-rights activists gathered at a Starbucks in Newtown, Conn., a town ravaged by gun violence.
Many retailers, such as McDonald's Corp., Dunkin Brands Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., allow guns where permitted by state law, but some struggle with competing customer demands.
"It can be disconcerting to guests and employees who are not familiar with the law to see someone carrying a firearm," says Travis Doster, spokesman for steak chain Texas Roadhouse Inc. TXRH -0.27% He said guests with children sometimes complain to restaurant managers when they see people with guns.
Reuters
Starbucks has more than 11,000 outlets in the U.S., ranking it among the country's biggest retailers.
AP
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the company's annual shareholders meeting March 20, 2013, in Seattle, Wash.
Gun-advocacy groups recently have held "Starbucks Appreciation Days" around the country, encouraging people to visit Starbucks with guns openly displayed.
John Pierce, co-founder of opencarry.org, a social media portal for the open-carry movement, said that embracing Starbucks helped ensure the cause received attention.
"There has been a lot of effort by the gun rights movement to frame this as a civil rights issue rather than a partisan issue, and the fact that Starbucks, which is seen a liberal leaning corporation, was adopting a very sane tone on the issue was seen as something positive."
Mr. Pierce described the company's new stance as disappointing, and said it had "buckled to pressure."
Last month, a gun rights group in Connecticut used social media to urge gun owners to bring their weapons to a gathering at a Starbucks in Newtown, Conn.—the same city where a gunman killed 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December. Starbucks temporarily closed the store before the scheduled event; activists gathered outside.
A group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which formed after the Sandy Hook shooting, countered by organizing "Skip Starbucks Saturday," urging mothers to show up at stores weekly to tell customers about the company's lack of a gun ban.
The group says it has collected approximately 60,000 signatures for a petition urging Starbucks to ban guns and was planning to deliver it to Starbucks's Seattle headquarters. Organizers say the group will now hold off.
Mr. Schultz's statement is "a huge win," said Shannon Watts, founder of the moms group. "If people continue to be disruptive and open carry I am confident they will not let them in their stores and take action. And if they don't we will come back at them full force."
—Ana Campoy, Paul Ziobro, and Allison Prang
contributed to this article.
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