Last night Starbucks President and CEO posted an open letter on the company website (also below) announcing that gun owners, and in particular their icky guns, would no longer be welcome at his establishments and their outdoor areas.

Today, amidst intermittent up time for the Starbucks servers, response among gun blogs and pro-gun posters to social media has been decidedly mixed. One school of thought holds Starbucks essentially blameless, doling out contempt and blame to Open Carry folks (especially those openly carrying long guns) and those who stepped outside the Gun Owner Closet - and thus Schultz and Starbucks are blameless and undeserving of "punishment."

The other main school of thought, while agreeing that open carry of a long gun in an urban area is a poor choice at multiple levels, holds that Starbucks original position ("We will adhere to local laws.") was the ideal policy - and that this letter declaring firearms owners (particularly those that carry) unwelcome is at best a betrayal of years of efforts to support Starbucks and replace any revenue lost to anti-gun boycotts by boosting their revenue via "Starbucks Appreciation Days" (where folks would open carry, buy coffee, and thank staff for their neutrality) and buycotts (going out of your way on a given day to spend money at Starbucks).

Cam Edwards, host of the “Cam & Company” radio show at NRA News, posted an online article today "Why I’m done with Starbucks (at least for now)" that has done one of the best jobs of explaining the position of the second school of thought. Edwards makes his position plain, saying "I’ll honor Mr. Schultz’s request not to bring my legally carried firearm in his stores anymore. I’ll take my business to those stores who truly don’t care about my status as a gun owner but who see me as a valued customer."

I’ll honor Mr. Schultz’s request not to bring my legally carried firearm in his stores anymore. I’ll take my business to those stores who truly don’t care about my status as a gun owner but who see me as a valued customer. - See more at: http://rare.us/story/why-im-done-with-starbucks-at-least-for-now/#sthash.lB0lbtnw.dpuf

Why I’m done with Starbucks (at least for now)

Tam, proprietress of View from the Porch (quite possibly the largest independent gun blog out there) opens her "No Dogs or Irish" Starbucks post strong, with the quote:

"...but even if you are Irish, we won't ask you to leave. We don't want to cause a stink or make a scene; we just don't like Irish people that much. But we'd still appreciate their money, if there was some way they could give it to us without being so... Irish-y about it."

She goes on to carefully lay out her position in flawlessly polite detail, ending by pointing out "When I am politely asked to not give someone my money, it would be rude of me to ignore their request."

From Sebastian at the blog "Shall not be Questioned" comes a terse post setting forth a call to gun owners to stop doing business with Starbucks and contact their corporate headquarters to let them know why, with the Virginia Shooting Sports Association chiming in with firm support.

Jennifer of Jennifers Head joins Tam in exquisite politeness as she serves notice that she will no longer patronize Starbucks, saying "I will respect your request not to bring firearms into your stores. Since my firearm is attached to my hip, that means that I will not enter either even though you will not do anything to stop me. You have made a polite request which I will politely honor, nothing more."

Dave Workman, the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, takes a rather different view in his posting and quotes several bloggers to support his stance, saying "If someone or some group wishes to debate firearms rights and policies, a much better venue might be found. The service area of a private business is the wrong place."

Blogger Christopher Burg joins Workman in this view in his post on Starbucks and their recent decision concluding "Neither side of the gun debate should demand boycotts of Starbucks or host political demonstrations on Starbucks’ property." And blogger Robb Allen weighs in with a significantly harsher analysis that alleges that this is gun owners own fault.

Other Blog Starbucks Posts