Starbucks says "NO" to Brady Campaign no-gun policy

By Linda Walker

The anti-gun Brady Campaign certainly put a shot of espresso into Starbucks sales this week when they called for the retailer to place a ban on handguns in their stores. Starbucks shot back with a double dolce of latte on upholding their pro-gun stance for the gun rights of law-abiding citizens.

On Feb. 4, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sent out an email to their supporters asking them to sign a petition urging Starbucks to “adopt a gun-free policy.” This came about after Starbucks allowed the Bay Area Open Carry group to use one of their locations for their meetings. This group meets on a regular basis, and their mission is to make it legal to carry loaded guns in California. They gather often, with their guns openly carried - unloaded - at their sides.

The hysteria ensues after the Bay Area head of the Brady Campaign, Griffin Dix, stated, "I don't want someone who carries a gun into a store to be making life-and-death decisions. I don't think it’s safe for them to be there."

Mr. Dix, you are absolutely right! Neither do I want someone who carries a gun into a store making a life-and-death decision either - for me! I don't want Johnny Crackhead, who's looking for easy money for his next fix, to make a life-and-death decision for me, by taking my life, because getting his next thirty minute buzz is more important to him than my life.

According to Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, via email, "the practice of packing heat in places like Starbucks is intimidating and could be potentially dangerous to our families... It's everyone's right to sit in a restaurant or coffee shop with their families without intimidation or fear of guns, either concealed or openly carried."

Pssst! - I hate to break it to you, Mr. Helmke, but if you're in the same restaurant or coffee shop as I, I AM carrying a gun, but it's concealed and you have no clue. Now tell me, Mr. Helmke, just how intimidated were you about something you had no clue about? How much danger did I put you in? And they call those of us who conceal-carry paranoid!

Coffee shops are notorious for being easy marks for the criminal element. Starbucks in German Village, a suburb of Columbus, was held up by the same armed serial robber twice in two days last summer. This bandit, armed with a pistol grip shotgun, threatened employees and patrons with his gun. This scene could have turned very ugly, very fast, if the robber had become agitated.

Yet, the Brady Campaign would rather there be dead employees and patrons, than allow law-abiding citizens the RIGHT to defend themselves.

Might I be so bold as to remind the Brady Campaign of the July 6, 1997 murders of three employees at the Georgetown, District of Columbia Starbucks! Perhaps had these three young employees been lucky enough to have had an armed citizen in their store that fateful day, they would be alive today and prospering.

According to Contra Costa Times reporter Janis Mara, Starbucks customer relations department shot holes in the Brady Campaign's request, stating, "Starbucks does not have a corporate policy regarding customers and weapons; we defer to federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding this issue."

Bravo for Starbucks for having the strength and backbone to slap back at the anti- gunners with a freshly brewed pot of upholding our Constitutional Rights!!!

The Brady Campaign seems to be pretty desperate these days, since they haven't won any national battles for several years. Besides picking on the largest coffee shops in the world, they gave President Obama an "F" last month for "failed leadership" in squandering the opportunities to tighten gun control. Much to their dismay, Obama actually signed a good gun law into effect, when national park carry was inserted into his budget bill last year. Jim Irvine, chairman of Buckeye Firearms, recently said this about the Brady Campaign: "To illustrate just how nutty these people are, they give the most anti-gun President in our nation's history an "F" because he's not anti-gun enough."

Could we be seeing the desperation of the Brady Campaign? Are they fighting to survive? Have they lost the steam in their coffee? My advice to them is...just give up! The law-abiding citizens have won. The SCOTUS win of the Heller case has beaten you down. And leave us law abiding citizens AND Starbucks alone. Together, we will uphold and cherish the Second Amendment!

I don't generally patronize Starbucks, because I've already had my 2-3 cups of java before leaving the house. But on my next venture into town, I'm going to make a point of stopping by Starbucks and purchasing a nice big "Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino® blended coffee with Chocolate Whipped Cream" to show my appreciation to Starbucks for standing up for our Second Amendment rights. And I encourage all gun owners to do the same. And don't forget to thank the store manager while you're there!

I encourage all BuckeyeFirearms.org readers to drop a line to Starbucks and thank them for their support!

Linda Walker is the Central Ohio Chair of Buckeye Firearms Association, the NRA's 2009 "Sybil Ludington Women's Freedom Award" recipient, and the NRA-ILA election volunteer coordinator of Ohio's 12th Congressional District.