Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in an interview with the Associated Press that he has asked his customers to stop bringing guns into cafes. Most states in America enable people to carry licensed guns in some way, as there are no specific policies which have banned firearms in their stores.
Schultz said he will still serve those who do bring in firearms to the stores: "We will not ask you to leave," he said, underscoring that there is no outright ban on firearms. Nevertheless, he hopes people will honor the request to not bring them in. Gun control advocates have expressed displeasure that there has been no outright ban.
The decision to ask customers to stop brining guns into stores came as a result of the increased frequency of "Starbucks Appreciation Days" in recent months where gun rights advocates have turned up to their local coffeehouses with firearms. These public demonstrations by gun rights advocates "have made customers uncomfortable," Schultz said. "To be clear: we do not want these events in our stores."
One organization "Mom Demand Action for Gun Sense in America," which began the day after the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, organized "Skip Starbucks Saturdays" in an effort to get the coffeehouse and fully ban guns at it stores. Participants have taken pictures of themselves at competitors, like Peets, which do not allow guns, and then post them online. Its founder Sharon Watts said that since the company has been extra hard on smokers in recent months - banning smoking within 25 feet of its stores- the same measures should be taken against guns.
The latest mass shooting at the Navy Yard in D.C. has prompted very public stances by those on both sides of the gun debate in America.
