Starbucks is and always has been neutral when it comes to its gun policy, which means the company simply upholds state laws. If a state permits concealed carry, so too does Starbucks. And despite recent attempts by anti-gun groups to get the coffee giant to change their ways, a Starbucks spokesman told USA Today in August that the company’s policy is not going to change. Looks like that news fell on deaf ears:
Connecticut Democrats are throwing their weight behind the campaign pressing Starbucks to prohibit firearms in their coffee shops nationwide.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Rep. Elizabeth Esty endorsed a recent letter, spearheaded by family members of victims of December's shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, asking Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz to help "foster a culture of peace and ban guns from your stores."
The Starbucks gun policy, which allows customers to carry firearms, including concealed weapons, in accordance with local laws, "undermines the safety and well-being of our citizens," the signers say.
"[T]o prevent another Sandy Hook, we as a society must prioritize the sanctity of human life over the individual’s 'right to carry,'" the letter reads.
Starbucks spokeswoman Jamie Riley confirmed that the company had responded to the letter, although details were not provided. Schultz also spoke over the phone with the father of a Newtown victim, but a meeting was not set up as the gun control advocates had hoped.
The coffee giant argues that legislators—not Starbucks—ought to determine what restrictions, if any, should be placed on gun possession.