Update, 9/17/13 - 2200 PST: It's Official - Starbucks is barring weapons, passive-aggressively as is typical of Seattle.
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I read this evening that Starbucks is rumored to be preparing to cave to the anti-gunners and criminalize (in many states) law-abiding CPL holders who dare to darken their door. Later I watched this carefully anonymized chat fly past me. None of the names resemble of any of those in reality, and that's the way I intended it - it's the tone and message that count, not the messenger.
I hope that Starbucks, if they are actually considering this step, will re-evaluate. Such a course will gain them nothing - the Anti's will not be satisfied until their is a sign on the door of every Starbucks reading "We don't serve dogs or gun owners." And realistically, short of implementing mandatory carry when visiting Starbucks, the Anti's can't get any angrier than they already are - they've shot their wad.
On the other hand, as noted below by several in the conversation, this sort of step WILL be seen as a betrayal by the Gun Owning community. The Gun Community has gone a long way out of its way to support with cash, advertising and support a core-liberal company that has only refrained from engaging in bigotry against members of that community...and this will be seen as a betrayal of every bit of that support by Starbucks.
80 million gun owners is a lot of coffee.
I'm pretty sure "NuTone" has the best analysis. The conversation speaks for itself.
[20:51]
<+DiamondJoe> WretchinMordor:
http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2013/09/17/starbucks-to-ask-customers-not-to-bring-guns-in-stores/
[20:51] <+DiamondJoe> "According to an internal document dated
9/16/2013, Starbucks Coffee stores will “request that Starbucks customers not
bring weapons into our stores.” The request will come in the form of an open
letter from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to national media outlets that will be
shared Thursday, 9/19/2013."
[20:51] <+Statesmen_Variant> well, I guess I'm done with starbucks
[20:52] <+NuTone> DiamondJoe, I suspect threading the needle is just
going to piss off everybody.
[20:52] <+WretchinMordor> I've read the memo. They won't ask someone to
leave, they won't enforce it, and sounds like they aren't even going to post
their stores.
[20:52] <+WretchinMordor> they want to be left out of the debate, that's
all
[20:52] <+WretchinMordor> and I can't hate them for that
[20:52] <@teddybear> wanna start a starbucks boycott day for the
20th? The anti tried it and failed miserably, wanna see what 80 million gun
owners can do?
[20:52] <+DiamondJoe> And here in my state, such an open letter would
constitute a notice that guns are not allowed on the premises... Which means
anyone carrying would be a criminal.
[20:53] <+Statesmen_Variant> WHERE WILL I PUT MY PITCHFORK NOW
[20:53] <+WretchinMordor> good luck proving that i saw that letter.
[20:53] <+DiamondJoe> I expect we shall see one start soon
[20:56] <+GREYEMINENCE> ...annnnnd starbucks returns to the overpriced,
burned coffee that it always was. The modicum of respect I had for them when
they gallantly offered NOT to pander to the antis is now officially gone...
[20:59] <+DiamondJoe> WretchinMordor: you would have to prove that it was
not a "statement by the person in legal possession or control of the
premises."
[20:59] <+DiamondJoe> You don’t have to have read it for it to apply to
you
[21:00] <@teddybear> I wonder how much of that was push from the
individual store managers?
[21:00] <+WretchinMordor> OK DiamondJoe. You're right, I'm wrong, I still
dont' give a fuck.
[21:00] <+WretchinMordor> In fact, I think I'll stop and get a frapp on
my way to work tomorrow, just because I can
[21:01] <+Statesmen_Variant> WretchinMordor: no shit
[21:01] <+Statesmen_Variant> pretty sure people just want to argue to
argue
1 comment:
Bummer yeah...but I've made coffee at home since age 8, so I can't say I'll miss Charbucks' weak and gacky brews.
The only time I buy coffee out is at this little stand--Hillbilly Beans--in Littlerock, near my gun club. The gals who run it have shotgun shell Christmas lights festooning the stand and love to whip out their smartphones to share range photos of themselves and their friends. (Recent favorite: the bachelorette party at the nearby skeet and trap club.)
Charbucks panders to suburban/urban hipsters and mommies/grandmommies/retirees in Escalades and Priuses. They have the money. They can afford to be clueless about RKBA. And here in Pugetopolis, the home of Charbucks, they are usually Democrats, and often hail from urban California and Colorado.
Of the ones I've talked to about open carry, a frightening majority has asserted that it's OK if "a few" women get raped or murdered, so long as the guns go away. THAT is how Victorian they are, both unrealistic (guns will never go away) and willing to leave their protection to imaginary daddies. (And don't even get me started on the psychosexual politics of that.)
When I ask them whether they also don't mind this happening to queers, elders, people with disabilities, minorities, etc., they disengage with hauteur. It doesn't affect them, and frankly, they don't care. This is where the moral bankruptcy of latter day liberal orthodoxy comes out in full force, and I am sad about this, as a lifelong old skool lib.
For me the biggest problem is going to be scraping the Guns N Coffee sticker off my truck window. I'm planning to replace it with a rainbow triangle and NRA Life Member stickers, and an FSM Clergy one. Not nearly as big a problem as the folks who run the Guns N Coffee meme and invested a lot of money and energy into supporting Charbucks' former stand.
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