09.18.13
The straw that broke one camel’s back
The damaged tribesmen of WhiteManistan are incapable of seeing their mental trouble.
They can be counted on to do the wrong thing, always.
Open carry of guns to Starbucks in Newtown, Connecticut, was an idea and action by people who need to be ostracized from society.
And the “I Love Guns and Coffee (at Starbucks)” campaign to take your guns to the franchise has just been … killed.
From Starbucks, today:
Few topics in America generate a more polarized and emotional debate than guns. In recent months, Starbucks stores and our partners (employees) who work in our stores have been thrust unwillingly into the middle of this debate. That’s why I am writing today with a respectful request that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas …
Our company’s longstanding approach to “open carry??? has been to follow local laws: we permit it in states where allowed and we prohibit it in states where these laws don’t exist. We have chosen this approach because we believe our store partners should not be put in the uncomfortable position of requiring customers to disarm or leave our stores. We believe that gun policy should be addressed by government and law enforcement—not by Starbucks and our store partners.
Recently, however, we’ve seen the “open carry??? debate become increasingly uncivil and, in some cases, even threatening. Pro-gun activists have used our stores as a political stage for media events misleadingly called “Starbucks Appreciation Days??? that disingenuously portray Starbucks as a champion of “open carry.??? To be clear: we do not want these events in our stores. Some anti-gun activists have also played a role in ratcheting up the rhetoric and friction, including soliciting and confronting our customers and partners …
I would like to clarify two points. First, this is a request and not an outright ban. Why? Because we want to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request—and also because enforcing a ban would potentially require our partners to confront armed customers, and that is not a role I am comfortable asking Starbucks partners to take on…
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, told newspapers: “The presence of a weapon in our stores is unsettling and upsetting for many of our customers.”
And this points again to the dark heart of the gun-crazy in America. They have made a big thing out of open carry in restaurants, shopping centers, snack shops and on the streets of cities because it is about intimidation, a form of low level mental terrorism.
Their’s is a dark joy in unsettling those they see as enemies all around.