SEATTLE – Coffee chain Starbucks says it’s sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it’s legal and is asking not to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate.
The statement stems from recent incidents when gun owners have walked into Starbucks and other businesses to test state open-carry gun laws. Gun control advocates have protested.
Starbucks is asking both sides “to refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners into the middle of this divisive issue.”
Businesses can choose to ban guns from their premises. But Starbucks says if it did that, it would have to turn away “law abiding customers.”
