Starbucks: Don’t Bring Guns, Please

Although some retailers ban guns in their establishments Starbucks outlets usually follow local gun laws—but that might change soon. The lack of an outright ban led gun-rights advocates to hold a “Starbucks Appreciation Day” in August, including an ill-advised event at the Newtown, Connecticut, franchise. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in an open letter to customers on Tuesday that “we do not want these events in our stores,” but he stopped short of an outright ban on guns in the 7,000 U.S. locations. Schultz said more people were bringing guns to Starbucks in the past few months, and “both sides of the issue were using Starbucks as a staging ground for their own political position.”