Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sipping lattes while bearing arms

A NY Times editorial suggests that coffee drinking while carrying is repugnant. (Background: it's legal to carry unconcealed weapons in California, and in a number of other states, under some restrictions.)

"Two sizable chains, Peet’s Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen, have banned patrons carrying guns, and a struggle is under way at the prized Starbucks coffee shops.
Should customers be free to sip Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes at their laptop screens while brandishing a gleaming Ruger .357? So far, Starbucks executives say yes, claiming they are quite safety-minded within a policy that “supports the federal, state and local laws in the communities in which we do business.”
Fortunately, Californians are treating the showdown at Starbucks as far from settled. Thousands are signing petitions from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, wisely begging the chain not to jangle its trademark caffeine serenity by tolerating firearms. Starbucks should listen."

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