Three years ago, Starbucks found themselves an unwilling party to controversy when the California open-carry movement decided to make a stand of sorts in their restaurants. Despite pressure from the gun-control lobby, the company refused to ban guns, and they asked the gun culture to allow them to remain neutral on the matter. It was a fair decision, and it was more than a little brave of them.
Apparently, that just wasn’t good enough for some folks, and the decision was made to stage a Starbucks appreciation day. Of course, nobody asked the company whether they wanted such an event foisted on them, and they chose to close their Newtown location early rather than become a ideological battleground over open carry.
Yep, that Newtown. The one in which Adam Lanza went on a shooting rampage that killed twenty children and six teachers less than a year ago. Are people really so crass and self-absorbed that they thought this would be a good idea?
If Starbucks chooses to ban guns on their premises, we have only ourselves to blame.