The campaign of coercion against Starbucks Coffee by extremist anti-gunners is coming to Seattle Wednesday morning with a press conference scheduled at 10:30 a.m. in Victor Steinbrueck Park next to the Pike Place Market.
Organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Washington CeaseFire, this is the latest chapter in their effort to force Starbucks and other companies to act as corporate surrogates in their attempt to foster social bigotry against firearm owners. So far, according to a news release from the Brady Campaign, announcing the press event, this effort has already forced Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Buckhorn Grill and California Pizza Kitchen to knuckle under. It is political thuggery disguised as political theater, and is more aimed at grabbing the spotlight at a time when these extremist organizations are losing their political clout as well as their relevance.
The Brady Campaign opposes the unregulated open carry of guns in public places and supports the rights of businesses to keep out persons who seek to carry firearms, whether openly or concealed, onto their premises.
They will tout an on-line petition to Starbucks that has garnered fewer signatures than the number of cups of coffee the chain sells in an average morning. There is another petition here, for people who support Starbucks’ policy of selling coffee to anyone it damn well pleases. This is just fine with gun rights activists, who merely want to drink their coffee and mind their own business. I have written about this controversy here, and here.
The Brady Bunch and CeaseFire want Starbucks and other businesses to spread their personal paranoia to the general public regarding legally-armed fellow citizens; people who have harmed nobody. Their particular neurosis at the moment is over open carry, which is being practiced by a small but growing movement. Open carry is legal in most states, and for most people, it may be an odd and even unusual sight, but the typical public reaction is nowhere near the level of self-generated hysteria that people like Brady President Paul Helmke or Washington CeaseFire President Ralph Fascitelli want to “share” with the community at large.
When open carry has occurred in retail stores, other customers quickly become alarmed and the police often are called to the scene, creating a volatile and potentially dangerous situation.
These alarmists are opposed to what they call “the unregulated open carry of guns in public places.” We remind Fascitelli and Helmke that the Washington State Court of Appeals, in the unpublished State v. Gregory Casad ruling, bluntly stated, “It is not unlawful for a person to responsibly walk down the street with a visible firearm, even if this action would shock some people.”
Translation: You do not have a right to not be offended.
Their rhetoric is over the top. They complain that “Americans will be faced with the intimidation and danger of confronting guns in public places.”
But these anti-civil rights terrorists – for that is ultimately what they’re trying to do; terrorize everyone into being as reflexively frightened of legally-armed fellow citizens as they are – argue that they are only trying to remind Starbucks and other businesses that they have a right to “keep persons out who seek to carry firearms.”
It is not unlawful for a person to responsibly walk down the street with a visible firearm, even if this action would shock some people.—Washington State Court of Appeals
We remind this bunch that private businesses have an equal right to cater to any paying customers they care to serve, and if they don’t like it, that’s just too (insert favorite vulgarism here) bad. They should grow up, get over it and get a life. Instead, they want to regulate your life, and they want to regulate the business practices of courageous companies like Starbucks – which has repeatedly stated it has security measures in place and chooses to comply with applicable laws.
The Brady camp’s predictable solution: More regulation of a civil right, as though it was a government-ordained privilege. “States…should either prohibit open carry, with limited exceptions, or adopt measures to subject open carry to strict licensing requirements in the interest of public safety.”
Expect news coverage on all four local network affiliates (KING, KOMO, KIRO, KCPQ).
Gun rights quiz
1: Following the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, the murder rate in Washington, D.C.
a. Went up by 10 percent
b. Went up by 25 percent
c. Did not change
d. Went down by 10 percent
e. Went down by 25 percent
2. How many people have been killed in Starbucks shops by legally-armed private citizens?
a. 100
b. 25
c. 0
3. Which organization has 92,000 active members in Washington State?
a. Washington Arms Collectors
b. Washington CeaseFire
c. National Rifle Association
4. Which organization was founded more than 25 years ago and still has only about 6,000 members?
a. Washington Arms Collectors
b. Washington CeaseFire
c. National Rifle Association
5. McDonald v. Chicago is a challenge to the Chicago handgun ban that was brought against the city by who?
a. The American Civil Liberties Union
b. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
c. Violence Policy Center
d. National Rifle Association
e. Second Amendment Foundation, Illinois State Rifle Association and four private citizens
6. Which state’s Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that stated the Second Amendment applies to the states through the 14th Amendment?
a. California
b. Virginia
c. Washington
d. Montana
e. Ohio
7. A new secret requirement of the Obama administration is to list all of your firearms on your IRS Form 1040
a. True
b. False
8. Which national organization was not part of a recent lawsuit against the City of Seattle to overturn its ban on legally-carried guns in parks and recreation facilities?
a. Second Amendment Foundation
b. Gun Owners of America
c. National Rifle Association
d. Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
9. Which national organizations sued the City of New Orleans to stop the illegal confiscation of firearms following Hurricane Katrina?
a. National Rifle Association
b. Second Amendment Foundation
c. American Civil Liberties Union
d. Gun Owners of America
e. Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
f. Both NRA and SAF
g. Both ACLU and NRA
h. Both GOA and CCRKBA
10. Which national organization is widely known as “The Red Cross of Firearms Safety?”
a. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
b. National Rifle Association
Visit with the Gun Rights Examiners
Atlanta: Ed Stone
Austin: Howard Nemerov
Boston: Ron Bokleman
Charlotte: Paul Valone
Cheyenne: Anthony Bouchard
Chicago: Don Gwinn
Cleveland: Daniel White
DC: Mike Stollenwerk
Denver: Dan Bidstrup
Fort Smith: Steve D. Jones
Grand Rapids: Skip Coryel
Knoxville: Liston Matthews
Los Angeles: John Longenecker
Minneapolis: John Pierce
National: David Codrea
Phoenix: Douglas Little
Pittsburgh: Dan Campbell
Seattle: Dave Workman
St. Louis: Kurt Hofmann
Tucson: Chris Woodard
Wisconsin: Gene German
And Don’t forget to visit:
For more info: Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns.
Comments
Thanks for this article.
Thanks for the article, and for the test, Dave. Number 9 had me stumped. I'll be there with many 2A advocates tomorrow, heading to Starbucks afterward, for a cup of coffee and to thank them for not buckling to these gun-grabbing, anti-constitution progressives. MOLON LABE.
It would be even more encouraging to see the 500-pound gorilla that is Starbucks get tired of the misinformation/business interference and seek injunctive relief.
Good article and hopefully Starbuck's will continue to buck the attempts at intimidation while gun owners everywhere support them. I see a lot of cops all over California taking their breaks in Starbuck's now when I travel around Northern California on gun related business. Maybe change will happen in my lifetime.
Time conflict; but tomorrow morning, I will stop at 'bucks for coffee, while open-carrying.
Great job, Dave . . . thanks!
Wish I didn't have a conflicting appointment tomorrow. I suspect that a big part of Ceasefire's objection of open carry is the fear that if people get used to seeing normal peaceful next door neighbor types carrying on their affairs while incidentally wearing a sidearm, they'll lose their fear of firearms. After all nobody grabs the kids and runs out screaming when a uniformed police officer walks into a place wearing a sidearm. It's just considered normal.
I wish I had as much money and free time as these Brady Bozos do.
"The Brady Campaign opposes the unregulated open carry of guns in public places and <b>supports the rights of businesses</b> to keep out persons who seek to carry firearms, whether openly or concealed, onto their premises."
I think the proper wording of the statement in bold would be, "..demand that businesses..."
Who the ehll made the Brady Bunch dictator over everyone else?
Don't forget to sign the petition and THANK Starbucks for being a Great American Company that respects the law and American Values.
thepetitionsite.com/1/starbucks-freedom-of-choice
The Brady bunch is a bunch of unsuccessful trolls. If open carry creates such volatile situations, how is it that I've walked past several Lakewood police officers and received nothing but a smile and a nod when walking into the grocery store?
And yes, it IS regulated! You can't open carry if you can't possess a firearm by law!
I lament the fact I must miss this event due to a scheduling conflict like Bruce and Rachel. Otherwise I believe I would greatly enjoy this opportunity to express my support for Starbuck's current policy and stick it to Sarah's Bunch.
The Brady Campaign doesn't support "the rights of businesses to keep out persons who seek to carry firearms...onto their premises", for to have that right, the business must have the choice whether or not to allow firearms. The Brady bunch seeks to take away that choice, and therefore, that right of the businesses, by forcing them to comply with their demands.
People. This is the very reason liberals like me ( I own more guns then all of you combined, trust me its not even a question of how many I own ) always win out over moderate conservatives like you. When something like this comes up with me, I cancel work appts (yes I work for somebody else as a hourly employee), I take sick time and or Vacation time and get there with a sign to defend my position. You cant continue to use the lame excuses of" I have other commitments or I would be there to". Its just that attitude that is going to allow wacko's to convince the sheep of society (the majority) that they are right and we are wrong about guns. Do I believe that a store owner can tell me I cant bring a gun into Their store. You bet I do and no I wont stop doing business with them because of it. Some of us like or love guns and some of us hate or don’t understand or want to deal with them. That isn't a reason to consider doing or not doing business with a company, just as I don’t believe th
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