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Starbucks Asks Customers to Leave Guns At Home Following Navy Yard Shooting
The CEO of America’s caffeine fix, Howard Schultz, asked patrons today to not bring guns into Starbucks. He says he's tired of very public “Starbucks Appreciation Days” organized by pro-gun activists. His announcement comes in the wake of the Navy Yard shootings two days ago, the latest massacre resulting from gun violence.
That said, if people come to Starbucks with a gun in a holster, employees will not to ask you to leave. You’ll even get served “as we would serve anyone else,” Schultz told the New York Times . He’d just, you know, really rather you not do that. But honestly, if it’s frowned upon to pack a pistol while you pick up your latté, where can you carry a gun anymore? Here are some of the most controversial places you can pack heat.
No guns, pretty please
The CEO of America’s caffeine fix, Howard Schultz, asked patrons today to not bring guns into Starbucks. He says he's tired of very public “Starbucks Appreciation Days” organized by pro-gun activists. His announcement comes in the wake of the Navy Yard shootings two days ago, the latest massacre resulting from gun violence.
That said, if people come to Starbucks with a gun in a holster, employees will not to ask you to leave. You’ll even get served “as we would serve anyone else,” Schultz told the New York Times . He’d just, you know, really rather you not do that. But honestly, if it’s frowned upon to pack a pistol while you pick up your latté, where can you carry a gun anymore? Here are some of the most controversial places you can pack heat.
Kansas Kindergartens
Following the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting and the NRA’s call-to-arms for school employees, Kansas passed a state law in April allowing school districts to decide whether educators would be allowed to carry concealed weapons.
The new policy is not proving hugely successful, mostly because the insurance company that covers up about 90 percent of districts isn’t really on board with the idea, citing financial reasons. It's a risk keeping loaded guns in classrooms with little kids? You don't say. Toddlers have killed more people (through accidental gun use) than terrorists have in this United States this year.
Colorado dorm rooms
Permit-carrying college students who want to bring their gun to college have their own dorms at the University of Colorado’s Boulder and Colorado Springs campuses. Too bad no one wanted to move in.
The decision came after a March 2012 Colorado Supreme Court decision held that the university couldn’t bar students with state-issued concealed weapons permits from carrying guns on campus. Mississippi, Utah, and Oregon also allow permit-backed owners to carry concealed guns on campuses, as does the University of Wisconsin (except for in enclosed spaces or in certain buildings, which can prohibit guns via signage at their entrances).
Nashville honkytonks
Mixing loaded guns and booze is totally fine in bars in Tennessee — and also Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia and Ohio.
Because it’s not like half of all homicides are estimated to have been sparked by an argument, or are “frequently a drunken fight over a perceived insult.” Should you find yourself in a duel in Missouri (like you do), the state’s got your back: those who’ve had a few are allowed to fire as long as it is in self-defense.
Kennesaw, Georgia, Everywhere
In Kennesaw, Ga., a gun's pretty much required to fit in with the locals — no, really. In 1982, residents passed a law stating that ownership was MANDATORY, in a cheeky response to a law passed earlier that year in Morton Grove, Ill., which banned guns completely as a way to reduce crime.
A nearby town, Nelson, also tried to pass a similar ordinance, but an August lawsuit ruled it was unconstitutional to make the demand.
(Image: Mitch Barrie via Flickr)
