Gun Foes Plan 'Skip Starbucks' Day

Coffee shop allows openly carried weapons
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 22, 2013 11:14 AM CDT
Gun Foes Plan 'Skip Starbucks' Day
Greg Dement, left, is handed a Starbucks coffee as he sits with a handgun strapped to his belt while looking on at an anti-gun rally in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, file)

A group of gun control activists are urging supporters to forgo their Starbucks fix on Saturday, in protest of a company policy allowing customers to carry loaded guns inside the chain's coffee shops. "Skip Starbucks Saturday" comes less than two weeks after gun rights advocates held "Starbucks Appreciation Day," grabbing coffee while carrying their weapons proudly, USA Today reports.

Starbucks says its policy is to "comply with local laws" on guns, but gun control fans have long pointed out that businesses have the right to ban guns if they see fit. In May, one customer in Florida accidentally shot another in the leg when she dropped her purse and the gun inside went off. "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 the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the group behind the protest. (More gun control stories.)

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