Gun Control Group: "Skip Starbucks Saturday"

[Robb]

USA TODAY -- The Starbucks siren suddenly has a gun to her head.

An advocacy group has called for "Skip Starbucks Saturday" this weekend — a nationwide boycott on Aug. 24, to pressure the coffee giant to amend its current policy, which allows customers to carry loaded guns into Starbucks stores where permitted by state law.

"Many moms are unaware that if they take their children to Starbucks, their children may be standing next to a customer who has a loaded weapon," says Shannon Watts, founder of the non-profit group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. She says the group hopes to gather 25,000 signatures to ban guns at all U.S. Starbucks stores. She hopes to personally present the signatures to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

(snip)

Starbucks currently allows guns in stores in 43 states — where states permit. But Starbucks has the legal right to prohibit firearms in its stores "in the interest of customer safety," says Kim Russell, national director of outreach for Moms Demand Action.

In May, a female customer at a Starbucks store in St. Petersburg, Fla., was accidentally shot in the leg when another woman dropped her purse — which carried a gun that discharged.

"Starbucks is a progressive company that does a lot for the community," says Russell. "That's why we hold them to a higher standard." She notes that Starbucks employees are not permitted to carry guns at work — even in states that allow them to do so.

Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/08/21/starbucks-boycott-gun-control-group/2681203/

[onehandle]

1. Good to know. We're in NYC on Saturday and will avoid the 300+ Starbucks there. nt

[GalaxyHunter]

2. good way to see which side is more into it.

will the gun humpers or gun control advocates win over starbucks?

[mwrguy]

3. If you see a gun toter in Starbucks, call the police

Or anywhere else, for that matter.