Starbucks Target of Anti-Second Amendment Groups, But Advocates Organize Counter Rally in Hawaii and Other States

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BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN – Second Amendment advocates across the country including Hawaii are making a special trip to Starbucks’ today. That’s to counter anti-gun group protesters who plan to boycott Starbucks starting on Valentines Day 2012.

The Seattle-based company has refused to ban those with the legal right to carry a concealed firearm from entering their store and has not taken a position against the Second Amendment, and as a result, the company has become the target of The National Gun Victims Action Council and the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence.

Here in Hawaii, concealed carry is legal, but uncommon, because Hawaii’s law make it a “may issue” state and not a “shall issue” state; the police chiefs here have the power to issue concealed carry permits but choose not to for the average citizen.

But Hawaii Second Amendment advocates are organizing a counter protest anyway, like many of their fellow Second Amendment lovers across the country. Hawaii Concealed Carry will be at Starbuck on Ward Avenue at 10:30 a.m. today.

Spokesperson for Hawaii Concealed Carry, Chris Baker, said Starbucks has done nothing other than follow the law.

In 2010, the company issued a statement about the matter saying: “We comply with local laws and statutes in all the communities we serve. That means we abide by the laws that permit open carry in 43 U.S. states. Where these laws don’t exist, openly carrying weapons in our stores is prohibited. The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores.”

Derek S Scammon writes in his blog about the protest: “Because the gun control lobby was unable to stop 43 US states from un-mangling the Constitution, they want Starbucks to do it for them, unilaterally. Since Starbucks refuses, a boycott of the coffee giant has been announced, starting Valentine’s Day this year. Clearly it’s in our collective best interest to ensure that Starbucks not be muscled into submission on this issue, so the Hawaii Defense Foundation is joining numerous Second Amendment advocacy groups across the country in asking all liberty-loving Americans to support Starbucks on the 14th of February.”

 

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