Last week, there was a minor news eruption after it was announced
that a group of gun nuts would gather at the Newtown Starbucks for a “Starbucks Appreciation Day.”
What was being appreciated was that fact that Starbucks, unlike so many
businesses, doesn’t disallow carrying firearms in their stores,
provided it’s legal in whatever locality said store happens to be in.
The fact that this particular community was still recovering from a gun
massacre of unbelievable cruelty either never occurred to them or, if it
did, they were such massive pricks that they didn’t care. For the
record, my money’s on the latter. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at
all if they weren’t trying to be deliberately provocative, just to give
the finger to grieving parents who responded to the tragedy with calls
for gun restrictions.
Anyway, cooler heads prevailed and the Newtown Starbucks shut down early that day, because they aren’t politically and emotionally tone deaf or economically suicidal. When the nutjobs showed up to appreciate Starbucks, they found that Starbucks didn’t appreciate them back and that the store’s doors were locked.
But lost in shock over all the Westboro Baptist-style “fuck you and your grief” protest tactics was the fact that Starbucks lets jittery, coffee-fueled customers walk around with guns. So how’s that working out?
[photo by voteprime]
Anyway, cooler heads prevailed and the Newtown Starbucks shut down early that day, because they aren’t politically and emotionally tone deaf or economically suicidal. When the nutjobs showed up to appreciate Starbucks, they found that Starbucks didn’t appreciate them back and that the store’s doors were locked.
But lost in shock over all the Westboro Baptist-style “fuck you and your grief” protest tactics was the fact that Starbucks lets jittery, coffee-fueled customers walk around with guns. So how’s that working out?
Raw Story: Police say a loaded handgun in a Florida woman’s purse accidentally discharged when she dropped it in a St. Petersberg’s Starbucks on Saturday. The bullet from 51-year-old Pamela Beck’s gun struck her friend, 38-year-old Amie Peterson, above the knee. The wound was not serious and Peterson was released from the hospital late Saturday night.So it’s not working out so well, I guess. Imagine that.
Beck, who does not have a concealed weapons permit, told police that the gold-plated .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol had been given to her by her father a year ago, for protection, and that she had forgotten that she placed the gun in a spare purse. Before leaving for the Tyrone Square Mall in which the Starbucks was located, she switched purses to the spare one.
[…]
Starbucks, which has been criticized in the past for its refusal to ban armed customers, released this statement:
“At Starbucks, the safety and security of our partners who are our employees and customers is our top priority. We are aware of the accident that took place and are thankful that nobody was seriously injured.”
[photo by voteprime]
