The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has declared war on a Northwest institution, and in the process perhaps the public will discover the extremes gun prohibitionists will go in an effort to push their radical agenda.
The Brady Bunch has Starbucks squarely in its crosshairs, hoping to browbeat the coffee giant into refusing service to an evidently growing clientele of law-abiding firearms owners. In an e-mail message sent out this week, Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke laments that, “Starbucks is refusing to prohibit open carrying in its stores, despite protests from loyal customers."
UPDATE: My colleague, David Codrea, weighs in here on this nonsense.
Over the past few months, more and more gun owners have been gathering at restaurants and coffee shops like Starbucks with guns strapped to their hips--Paul Helmke
This was after Helmke acknowledged that his campaign of social bigotry against legally-armed citizens was launched because, “Over the past few months, more and more gun owners have been gathering at restaurants and coffee shops like Starbucks with guns strapped to their hips, intimidating fellow patrons.”
So, let me see if I have this straight. Because Starbucks is attracting increasing numbers of gun owners – presumably becoming the kind of loyal customers about whom Helmke writes – he wants the coffee chain to ban these people, in deference to his own ilk of hoplophobes.
In reaction, even more gun owners are declaring a sudden thirst for Starbucks blend and heading to their local coffee stand.
Is this not the same kind of nonsense I wrote about here last Friday, in reporting the angst demonstrated by Washington CeaseFire’s Ralph Fascitelli over the perfectly legal appearance at a public hearing in Olympia by several open carry activists?
The Brady camp has teamed up with CREDO Action, a self-proclaimed progressive activist organization that uses mobile phones to affect social change.
Helmke’s e-mail diatribe further complains that, “The practice of packing heat in places like Starbucks is intimidating and could be potentially dangerous to our families and communities -- and it must be stopped.
“It’s everyone's right to sit in a restaurant or coffee shop with their families without intimidation or fear of guns,” he says, “either concealed or openly carried.”
Intimidating to whom? This may come as a culture shock to Helmke, but it is equally everyone’s right – if they choose to exercise it – to sit in a restaurant with family or friends and not be concerned (because they are prepared) about criminal attack, or an incident on the scale of the Luby’s Massacre in October 1991, in which 23 restaurant patrons, disarmed at the time by Texas statute, were murdered. It might just be that Americans took a lesson from another incident two months later at a Shoney’s restaurant in Anniston, Alabama, in which a legally-armed citizen prevented a massacre by shooting two robbers who were herding people into a food locker.
I wrote about this incident with Alan Gottlieb in America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age.
Thomas Terry, the hero of Anniston, was discreetly but legally carrying a .45 caliber handgun when the robbers took over the restaurant. Facing two armed thugs, Terry shot one dead and severely wounded the other. None of the other patrons was harmed, other than Terry, who sustained a grazing wound to the hip.—Timothy Wheeler, MD
Helmke also argues that “Under the law, Starbucks has the right to adopt a gun-free policy, with an exception for uniformed police officers.”
Guess what, Paul. Starbucks also has the right as a business to allow patronage by anyone it damn well pleases, including legally-armed citizens. Their money is just as good as yours, and so far, there has not been a single reported incident involving any of these gun owners, including the robbery of a Starbucks while an armed citizen happens to be standing at the counter.
Social bigotry against gun owners is just as insidious as bigotry against any other group. What would the public reaction be if someone demanded that a private business refuse service to, say African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Arabs, Native Americans, Samoans, disabled people, overweight people, gays or women? Got a tattoo? Stay out!
Helmke rants about intimidation, yet he has no reservations about trying to intimidate a business over some of the people it serves. His kind of demagoguery has one significant trait: Hypocrisy.
If Helmke and other gun prohibitionists don’t want to be around other citizens because they are legally armed, that is a problem, but it is their problem. Perhaps they should start drinking tea.
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Comments
yea...what he said. Brady who??
“The practice of packing heat in places like Starbucks is intimidating and could be potentially dangerous to our families and communities -- and it must be stopped.
Let's see. Criminals with guns are and can be intimidating but I know of no criminal that has the balls to walk in open carrying into Starbucks. This nut job is intimidated by his own self hence seeing fit to make others paranoid to support his fear and ignorance. Typical for progressives. Instill false fear backed up with no facts. To them the ends justify the means.
Legal gun owners have as much right as anyone else to open and/or concealed carry and go where they will without being discriminated against. Wonder what he thinks about a disabled person going into Starbucks open carrying to protect him or herself? Wonder if he would think the same way ?
Tragically, even 'uniformed police officers' are not immune in local coffee shops. I'm sure Starbucks is keenly aware of this fact and that their corp policy is to be 'in compliance with State laws' in which they operate.
Few people can survive an ambush, however, ambushes only work on vulnerable & unsuspecting targets. Ambush tactics are the #1 MO of violent attackers. The only way they will attack is when they believe they have; superior firepower, superior tactics (surprise works), and something someone is willing to give up to be spared harm.
It's not that women 'want to be raped' its that they are being educated not to resist, because its not worth getting 'hurt' over. It's not that men 'want to be robbed' its that our society says its not our job to enforce the laws, be accountable to our neighbors, or build the kind of community we want. Only organized governments are perceived as having the power 'to enable change'. I'm sick of waiting. BBIAB, need more coffee.
Didn't expect Starbucks to take this stance. Now I feel a little less bad when I shell out three quid for their White Choc Mocha every Edinburgh trip.
"The Brady Campaign to Enable Criminal Activity has declared war on a Northwest institution..."
Fixed that for ya. I'd leave a longer comment, but I have to head out now...I have a sudden craving for Starbucks Coffee.
Ben Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born into a Puritan family that was among the first Pilgrims to flee to Massachusetts for religious freedom, when King Charles I of England began persecuting Protestants. They sailed for Boston in 1635. Her father was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America."[8] As clerk of the court, he was jailed for disobeying the local magistrate in defense of middle-class shopkeepers and artisans in conflict with wealthy landowners. Ben Franklin followed in his grandfather's footsteps in his battles against the wealthy Penn family that owned the Pennsylvania Colony.
The Folger Coffee Company was founded by James A. Folger in San Francisco, California, in 1850. James came to San Francisco from Nantucket Island at the age of 15 with his two older brothers during the California Gold Rush. Under the mid-20th century leadership of his great-grandson, Peter Folger (the father of Charles Manson murder victim Abigail Folger)?? Brady Who?
On Tuesday 19 April 1757, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his sister Jane Mecom (nee Franklin), a week before he was due to set sail on his voyage to London. He said: "Direct your letters to be left for me at the Pensilvania Coffee House in Birchin Lane, London." He gave these same instructions to various other colleagues, including Samuel Ward, and Reverend Ezra Stiles. He also wrote many letters to his close family while in London and gave the address of the coffee house and not 36 Craven Street.
Benjamin suspects a spy is at work at the coffee house!
Amazingly, in a letter addressed from Benjamin Franklin to his very close friend Joseph Galloway (an American Loyalist and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives) on Saturday, 27 September 1766, Franklin informs Galloway: "I have been told that one Williamson of Pensilvania [sic] who is here, reads letters at the Coffee-house, said to be from you to me, or from me to you...
Planning a Tea Party?
On Tuesday 19 April 1757, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his sister Jane Mecom (nee Franklin), a week before he was due to set sail on his voyage to London. He said: "Direct your letters to be left for me at the Pensilvania Coffee House in Birchin Lane, London." He gave these same instructions to various other colleagues, including Samuel Ward, and Reverend Ezra Stiles. He also wrote many letters to his close family while in London and gave the address of the coffee house and not 36 Craven Street.
Benjamin suspects a spy is at work at the coffee house!
Amazingly, in a letter addressed from Benjamin Franklin to his very close friend Joseph Galloway (an American Loyalist and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives) on Saturday, 27 September 1766, Franklin informs Galloway: "I have been told that one Williamson of Pensilvania [sic] who is here, reads letters at the Coffee-house, said to be from you to me, or from me to you...
Planning a Tea Party?
You know, I've never been much of a coffee drinker. Maybe it's time to change that.
Some might criticize the use of the word bigotry in connection with anti gun rights activity because the usual reasons for bigotry, race etc., are unchangeable, where carrying a pistol is a choice. This would be an incorrect analysis. Bigotry is the application of the characteristics of a collective to an individual who may or may not be a member of the collective.
The bigots lump innocent open carriers in together with the criminals who are the only gun carriers featured in the media (for the most part.) I might add that this lumping together is pretty silly, since few crooks will open carry in the course of their "work". Thus the word bigotry is correct.
MD
"Some might criticize the use of the word bigotry in connection with anti gun rights activity because the usual reasons for bigotry, race etc., are unchangeable, where carrying a pistol is a choice."
Not a valid axiom anyway. One's faith is a choice. Marrying a person of a different skin color is a choice. Getting a tattoo is a choice. Registering for a particular political party is a choice. Yet all these choices have been discriminated against either in the past or present, and each example constitutes bigotry.
I can't stand Starbucks coffee; tastes like its burnt. That said, good on them for demonstrating that a rational approach to firearms is good for business.
It should be noted that for thse people (bradybunch) it is just a paycheck. I wonder if they ever realize that if they did accomplish what they strive for they would be out of a job. How bout a cup of Starbuck coffee?
I don't like Starbucks Coffee at all because it tastes bitter and burnt. They've gobbled up so many of the fine coffee roasters here in Seattle, one being my very favorite, Torrefazione.
Not only do I dislike their coffee, I boycotted them long ago because of their support of the Copenhagen/Cap&Tax/Global Warming schemes.
Starbucks is very much a "Leftist" organization, which makes me wonder why they're not banning open carry in their stores. Something smells..... and it's not just their burnt coffee.
As an avid Second Amendment proponent, I now find myself in a quandry... Support Starbucks for their stance on this issue, choke down their coffee and grin at the lefties working behind the counter? Or continue to boycott them....
NICE - freedom to protect ourselves from our government and criminals! KEEP writing sir!
Same kind of people who wanted to bar blacks from restaurants 'cause they made racist southern Democrats "uncomfortable." If you doubt it, do you think for a second any black man would have been denied service in a restaurant with a .44 strapped to his hip?
"Refusing to prohibit" - I like that. Most concerns about law-abiding, gun-carrying systems should be treated with benign non-activity. As a basic right, there should be no more debate or consternation about carrying a gun in a public place than there is about breathing, chatting with a friend, or wearing eyeglasses.
Heading to Starbucks. Getting a large Black Coffee. And as usual my 45 will be on my hip. Been carrying for years and nobody has noticed. And the people that did notice, DID NOT CARE. Heard one gentleman in a booth behind me say, "Let someone try and rob and shoot people in this place" Kind of gives you a warm feeling.
This article does present a rather interesting dilemma, as noted by TWG2A. Starbucks corporate offices are ultra left wing, as are most hippie/yippie/yuppie businesses, and have given financial support to such ultra left groups and ideas as the Brady bunch, PETA and the non-existent 'Global Warming'. I suspect any seemingly 'pro-gun' stance is a local phenomenon rather than a corporate change of heart.
HOWEVER, IF you are pro-gun, and IF you are a Starbucks customer, you might want to print this article and take it to your local Starbucks retailer, and say "Thank you for supporting the Constitution of the United States." Unlike the politicians in power, we won't sell our souls to Satan, but we can be thankful for help from most other quarters.
-Conservative in Exile-
Michael E.
LAUS DEO
Well heck, tell me where there's an open carry gathering at Starbucks. I'll stop in and have a latte.
I'm with TWG2A, thier coffee tastes burnt, we call it Charbucks!
However, with that said, I might just have to stop by, carrying, of course and get a coffee today.
Here in Arizona, seeing someone with a firearm isn't that big of a deal though.
Keep up the good work sir!
Carry On!
Just remember, Starbucks can't say "we allow open-carry" or not since State law trumps corporate law. If your State allows open-carry with a valid CC permit then walk into a Starbucks or any other institution and enforce your right - it's that simple. Starbucks cannot deny you the right, period! This is a wash.
Thank goodness I live in Utah - Carry On!
Unfortunately here in Texas if a business puts up a legal sign (and there are stringent requirements for size of letters, English and Spanish, etc.) they can restrict legal concealed carry on their premises. I believe the law should be amended so that they must also provide metal detectors and armed guards and the ability to check your firearms at the entrance and get them back upon exiting. Otherwise, like Luby's, everyone inside is a sitting duck.
HA WILL ILL PUT ON MY TIE DOWN 44, AND YOUR DANG SURE AS SHOOTIN ILL BUY MY COFFEE AT STARBUCKS, AS FOR THE BRADY TRASH,YOU CAN PUT THAT, IN YOUR CRACK PIPE, YOUV BIN SMOKEIN...............
A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity. -- Sigmund Freud
Wonder how fast some politician will pass a bill making it a requirement that All "law abiding" citizens, escuse me, subjects be made to obtain a permit for either open or concealed carry. I see it comeing down the pike.
people who toss the word bigotry around should perhaps look up the meaning of the word and not jump on the accepted misuse of the word bandwagon. starbucks lost me when they charged for water at 911 & confirmed their stupidity over the last military boo boo. but kudos for standing up to the brady ignorance.
btw Starbucks is going to get a lot more of my bussiness now. Unlike places like cosco that refuse to allow CCW or open carry holders in their stores. btw COSCO stands for China Ocean Shipping COmpany. They through in the "T" to make people not realise that they are a china company. So COSCO and COSTCO are one and the same. That tid bit of inf dont have jack to do with the article. However I am estatic that starbucks supports the leagle right to carry. Atleast for now. Thanks StarBucks.
Even though they are in cohoots with the rest of leftist, I'll make your descisions for you gangs, their support for carrying side-arms probably cancels out some of their other pursuits. Heck, it's just more money for them because they are appealing to what is becoming more main-stream. Anyway, good for them. Never had their coffee and probably never will. I'm not the type to go somewhere just to get some coffee. I can make it perfectly fine myself. Folgers and Eigth'0'Clock Coffee sit well with me. Again, anyway. Maybe they can show a little bit more rebeliousness and send The Brady Loons' a more public message that they reserve the right to refuse service to people that are afraid of guns and Mr. Helmke can keep his delusions to himself.
I have never sipped a cup of coffee all my life...after reading this I think I will be visiting Starbucks today and trying my first cup of coffee...and even if I do not like the taste. There are other things to drink there.
Thank you Starbucks for supporting/defending LAW-ABIDING citizens and their right to open carry legally :)
It is to be remembered that the Million Mom March, a project of the Brady Campaign, misused 501(c)(3) tax exempt money to promote the election or defeat of House candidates (and may have used tax exempt money to promote Al Gore at its May 2000 rally). The Million Mom March, which said openly that its purpose was to demand so-called common sense gun laws, also told the Internal Revenue Service that it spent NO money to lobby or influence legislation.
The Million Mom March, a project of the Brady Campaign, also solicited donations under false pretenses, specifically the false statement that gun violence kills 12 or 13 children every day. It is important to remind the public about this--perhaps hand out leaflets outside Starbucks--so they will know that the Brady Campaign lies to its own supporters while its "projects" play fast and loose with tax exempt money and then file creative Form 990 tax returns.
Bill, I would not do the flyer thing at Starbuck's. Be grateful that they are not trying to infringe our rights. Do not drag them into this fight at their front door and make their other customers uncomfortable in a fight between third parties. That's a quick way to lose welcome status.
Take the flyers to the public spaces outside MMM offices and pass 'em out to everybody.
Mojavegreen,
Costco NOT a Chinese company. Google "costco and china" and find a page on Snopes regarding that. Its just an internet rumor that has been floating around for years. Some people will blindly believe anything nowadays...
makes me want to have a cup of coffee
This is more proof that The Brady Campaign is a radical gun ban group, and their goal is total citizen disarmament. Thank you Starbucks for ignoring those gun ban zealots.
Here's a "Thank You, Starbucks!" petition you might want to sign:
h++p://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/starbucks-freedom-of-choice
The total lack of integrity and disingenuousness of Paul Helmke is already well known. Surely this lying, freedom hating petty tyrant will have exhausted the last bit of any credibility anyone thinks he has soon and will lose the last of his audience of uninformed that he preys on.
hey paul get a new dead rat for your head the one you are using for a rug has been dead long enough!
As woman and American citizen I want to thank Starbucks for respecting my civil rights and not require that I make myself vulnerable to rapists & thugs by asking me to disarm to have a cup of coffee. Thank you for respecting the laws and constitution of Washington and the Constitution of the United States. The Brady Bunch could care less about what the vast majority of Americans want. Nation wide the Brady Bunch has a membership 180,000 certified spineless anti self defense fanatics. Nation wide there are over 80,000,000 law abiding gun owners. Starbucks DOES respect the rights of the vast majority of its customers. The "VAST MAJORITY" does not have the Brady Bunches irrational fear of guns. Legally armed citizen stop 2,500,000 violent crimes 200,000 rapes a year. That is why we carry guns. If you want to be a volunteer victim that is your choice. Stop trying to impose your cowardice on the rest of us. Stop trying to provide defenseless unarmed victims to your murdering rapist allies
As woman and American citizen I want to thank Starbucks for respecting my civil rights and not require that I make myself vulnerable to rapists & thugs by asking me to disarm to have a cup of coffee. Thank you for respecting the laws and constitution of Washington and the Constitution of the United States. The Brady Bunch could care less about what the vast majority of Americans want. Nation wide the Brady Bunch has a membership 180,000 certified spineless anti self defense fanatics. Nation wide there are over 80,000,000 law abiding gun owners. Starbucks DOES respect the rights of the vast majority of its customers. The "VAST MAJORITY" does not have the Brady Bunches irrational fear of guns. Legally armed citizen stop 2,500,000 violent crimes 200,000 rapes a year. That is why we carry guns. If you want to be a volunteer victim that is your choice. Stop trying to impose your cowardice on the rest of us. Stop trying to provide defenseless unarmed victims to your murdering rapist allies
Say so long to your brief success. Do you realize you're outnumbered by the people who go to starbucks to just drink coffee? The second this gets out in the public every single suburb mom and dad who think you gun-nuts are nuts will be drinking across the street in Peets or Caribou. So long Starbucks. You can thank the paranoid and pansy-ass Americans who are afraid of their shadows and can't back up their own loud-mouths with God's gift--two balled up fists. Rednecks. All of you.
If someone comes up to me and says they have a right to not be scared by guns, I just tell them "Ok, then grow a pair and stop being scared." End of conversation. I may have to grab my netbook, go to the local Starbucks and read up on Java programming.
I now like Starbucks and buy my coffee every chance I get. And by the way: non-uniformed and off-duty cops can carry too. If Paul Helmke thinks a store has the authority to only allow a uniformed officer to carry, he should read the law: Sections 830 and 12025 of the Penal Code. That store employee will be arrested here in Calfornia.
PS - I went to the PEETS COFFEE COMPANY web site and there is no mention of their complying with Brady's request. So they are saying yes to Brady, but don't want to admit it? I wonder if Peets lacks the courage of Starbucks to take a stand and put their good values where their good name is? I will only drink Starbucks and send my Peets card back where it belongs.
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