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Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz apparently did not appreciate "Starbucks Appreciation Day," when gun owners gave the coffee company their stamp of approval for its so-called neutral stance on gun ownership. Schultz, who specified that the coffee chain was not outright banning weapons inside its stores, wrote an open letter asking customers to leave the guns outside, please.
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"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," Schultz wrote.
First, this is a request and not an outright ban," he explained. "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."
Advertisement"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."
Schultz's letter appears to be, at least in part, a response to reaction from a backlash against the gun owner's appreciation day that included a store in Newtown, Conn., the town where a Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December.
Members of the Newtown Coalition for Corporate Responsibility, a group that included families of Lanza's victims, wrote to Starbucks asking for the company to institute a ban.
"If you make the decision to ban guns, your company has the chance to honor the 26 innocent lives lost here in Newtown and the 32,000 Americans lost annually to gun violence by becoming a leader in educating the public about firearm safety," the NCCR said.
Schultz, who said the Newtown tragedy "hit home very hard for all of us at Starbucks," said the request to gun owners was not a response to that event.
"We've seen advocates on both sides of this debate use Starbucks as a staging ground," Schultz explained. "Starbucks is not a policy maker. We're not pro- or anti-gun," but guns "should not be part of the Starbucks experience."
Here is the full text of Schultz's letter.
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.
AdvertisementWe 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.
AdvertisementFor 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.
AdvertisementSincerely,
Howard Schultz
