"Starbucks Appreciation Day" for gun rights advocates caused a backlash with gun control groups in Newtown, Conn., which led to local coffee shop locations to close early.
A Facebook page was created for open carry advocates, urging people to support their rights by visiting their local Starbucks. Those who planned on participating were told to follow all local, state and federal laws.
"We will thank Starbucks (sic) for standing up for our right to bear arms by going there on Friday, August 9th," a statement on the page said.
Starbucks became an odd battleground for the national gun debate, but those from Newtown, home to the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting Dec. 14, 2012, did not take the coffee company's support for the open carry advocates lightly. Again, people used social media to spread the word about a counter-protest to raise awareness about the importance of gun control.
"Matt Botalli, of Ridgefield, posted on his own Facebook page that he will be visiting the Starbucks in Newtown to show support," NBC Connecticut reports. "He commented on the CT Open Carry Facebook page that he and a group of people from the Connecticut Citizens Defense League will be at the coffee shop from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday."
"Come down, meet me and my friends. I guarantee there will not be a safer public place in all of CT," Botalli wrote on his page.
Starbucks caught wind of the counter rally and decided it would be best to shut down local Newtown coffee shops early. The company released the following statement on their website:
Dear Customers,
At Starbucks we are proud that our stores serve as gathering places for thousands of communities across the country and we appreciate that our customers share diverse points of view on issues that matter to them. We also believe in being sensitive to each community we serve.
Today, advocacy groups from different sides of the open carry debate announced plans to visit our Newtown, Connecticut store to bring attention to their points of view. We recognize that there is significant and genuine passion surrounding this topic, however out of respect for Newtown and everything the community has been through we decided to close our store early before the event started. Starbucks did not endorse or sponsor the event.
We continue to encourage customers and advocacy groups from all sides of the debate to contact their elected officials, who make the open carry laws that our company follows. Our long-standing approach to this topic has been to comply with local laws and statutes in the communities we serve.
Thank you for your understanding and respect for the Newtown community.
Sincerely,
Chris Carr
Executive vice president, U.S. Retail
