'Open carry' gun laws vex Starbucks, again
| San Francisco
Outside the Starbucks annual meeting Wednesday in Seattle, Wash., Ralph Fascitelli was one of the antigun-violence advocates handing fliers to the company鈥檚 shareholders. Some fliers showed a puppy, bare feet, and a gun.
Of the three, says Mr. Fascitelli, president of , only firearms are allowed in Starbucks coffee shops.
The coffee chain remains caught in the crossfire of a dispute over so-called 鈥渙pen carry鈥� laws, which give gun owners the right to wear unconcealed weapons, often without a permit.
After activists in a loosely organized open carry movement in California began gathering in Starbucks outlets, the called on the company to ban guns from its shops, much the same way California Pizza Kitchen and Peets Coffee and Tea did after similar meet-ups in their cafes. Starbucks resisted. The company said, instead, that it would 鈥渃omply with local laws and statutes鈥� and that the 鈥減olitical, policy, and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores.鈥�
While Starbucks鈥� stance has made it the favorite coffee shop among gun rights advocates, gun control activists did not relent and have continued to pressure the largest coffee chain in the world.
Fascitelli says his group found many receptive shareholders at the company鈥檚 Wednesday meeting and is hopeful the issue will be raised with Starbucks executives.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, says that, since the California meetings by open carry proponents, his group has been hearing from Starbucks customers who wonder if it鈥檚 legal to wear a holstered handgun in public.
鈥淵es, our laws are so weak in this country that in almost every state you can openly carry a gun around,鈥� says Mr. Helmke.
Thirty-two states allow the open display of loaded weapons, while California, Utah, and North Dakota require that openly displayed guns be unloaded, . Twelve states allow open carry but only with a permit. Florida, Illinois, and Texas prohibit open carry.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 really a Starbucks issue, it鈥檚 an open carry issue,鈥� says Helmke. 鈥淭he gun lobby has been wanting to get more guns in more places, and they want that to be more acceptable to Americans.鈥�
John Pierce, cofounder and spokesman for OpenCarry.org, one of the earliest open carry advocacy groups, agrees that the movement intends to normalize guns in America.
"This whole Starbucks thing only came to prominence because it happened in California, one of the latest states where the open carry movement has taken hold," says Mr. Pierce. In other states where open carry advocates have been active over the past decade, he says, he's seen increased acceptance for unconcealed weapons.
The movement in California has succeeded in bringing new attention to open carry. A California lawmaker has proposed a bill to outlaw the open display of weapons in public places, and cartoonist Garry Trudeau has been lampooning Starbucks in his most recent over its gun policy.
