Earlier this week the Chicago-based National Gun Victims Action Council released a statement promoting a boycott of Starbucks on Feb 14th.  I do not usually pander to the fringe anti-gun lobby, but something about this whole crusade bothered me. Well, a number of things. First, let’s look at the facts . . .

On January 30, 2010, Starbucks landed in the middle of a political mess. Two other Bay Area chains refused service to people that were following California law and openly carrying unloaded handguns. The group from opencarry.org moved on to another coffee house in the area, which happened to be Starbucks.

When the mainstream media got wind of the story, they quickly turned the open carry demo into a heated debate about private property owners’ firearms policies in general, and Starbucks’ rules in particular. Gun control advocates pressed Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz: why had the chain allowed loaded guns on its premises?

What happened next shocked just about everyone around the county. Starbucks decided they would follow state law where the store was located. If you’re legally allowed to carry a firearm in your state—whether that’s concealed or openly displayed—you could do so inside a Starbucks.

Despite numerous letters and appeals from The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, National Gun Victims Action Council and other gun control groups, Starbucks refused to budge on this subject. As far as they were concerned, the issue was settled.

Starbucks profits were up 10% last quarter again, so obviously they are doing something right. If gun control advocates don’t like Starbucks’ policies or their coffee, the solution is easy enough: don’t patronize their stores. There are plenty of businesses I no longer patronize because I don’t like their policy on something.

That doesn’t mean that I’ll try to organize a national movement to try to pressure a company to change its policies. They’d have to do something seriously out of line, and do it to millions of like-minded people.

NGVAC claims to represent 40 million people all over the county. At last count only 99 of the purported 40 million have cared enough about the movememt to “like” them on Facebook.  That math works out to 0.0000025% of their “membership.” Or right around 1 in 400,000.

They make a number of false claims, such as the picture of the FN FiveseveN handgun with a caption of “Capable of penetrating a cop’s vest.” This is a lie and they know it. The only way that a FiveseveN is going to penetrate a soft armor vest is with armor-piercing rounds which are not for sale to civilians.

The NGVAC also claims that you increase your risk of “being a victim of gun violence” just by being in a state that allows concealed or open carry. They claim that a Glock is to blame for shooting 31 rounds in 15 seconds, killing 6 and injuring 14 in Tucson. They blame the gun and they blame the “lack of laws.” No one blames the person that pulled the trigger.

But just as the gun control group has the right to stay away from Starbucks, we have the right to support them. There are several pages and Facebook groups to help get the word out about Starbucks Appreciation Day.

If you can open carry in your state (and feel comfortable doing so) then open carry in your local Starbucks to show your support. I will be there, at least a few times that day with my Sig on my hip for all to see. If you can’t, at least spend a $2 bill and thank the barrista for their employer’s support of your Second Amendment rights.

Edmund Burke said that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Well here’s something you can do to protect your rights against those who would disarm us against evil.

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Any group that refers to itself as a “National …Victims Action Council” is, by definition, a group of passive, whining losers. “Oh poor us, we are victims!”

    It is depressing to think that there might actually be “40 million people all over the country”, who consider themselves victims, but this probably does account for many Democrat voters.

    On the other hand, it is encouraging to see a CEO of a major corporation with the guts to withstand the whining from this group of losers.

  2. if this turns out to be a success …which i’m sure it will be for A2 then we need to mark the calendars and do this on a yearly basis just to rub their frick’en noses in it like a dog. funny though on how this is falling on valentines day i.e that little thing that happened in chicago many years ago…

  3. Personally, and I could be wrong about this, I think that NGVAC was dreamed up by the marketing wizards at Dunkin’ Donuts.

  4. Their Facebook page is hilarious. They make statements that are followed by 50-60 comments utterly dismembering their statistics, claims and alleged logic. It’s like the Hoplophobic-Masochist Society of America got a webpage.

    They quoted that the firearms ownership rate in the US is 88.8 per 100,000. That works out to just under 270,000 firearms owners in the United States.

    -There are 800,000 people employed in law enforcement in the US at federal state and local levels.

    -There are 200,000,000 firearms spread over those “270,000” firearms owners, meaning that each firearm owner has approximately 750 firearms if their math is to believed.

    They are grade-A buffoons and it’s just so wonderful that clowns like that are the ones advocating for that position. Keep up the good work! Their ineptness is saving NRA-ILA thousands of dollars.

  5. And another thing — if they are impressed with a Glock firing 31 .356″ projectiles in 15 seconds, they should see what a Winchester 1897 loaded with 000 buck can do. Conservatively, a 115 year-old shotgun can put 40 .36″ balls in the air at comparable velocity with 5 shots in 5 seconds. And 5 shots in 5 seconds is loafing.

    If they only knew what to be afraid of they might be a more credible opponent.

    • Brilliant! When you find out let me know. I’m a few short myself. Maybe the Joyce Foundation will give us a grant to buy more guns to prove their statistics true.

      • Send a letter to the BATFE, tell them you are part of the Sinaloa cartel. Apparently they will supply you with as many firearms as you need (as long as they are military-style and look scary), and help you launder any money or import any “goods” needed to obtain the money to pay for the firearms.

        Oops, this was a limited-time offer than apparently expired when the GOP got control of the House and started investigating. Sorry about that.

  9. Isn’t the NGVAC saying the boycott starts on the 14th? As in, it’s not just a one day thing but until Starbucks bends to the overwhelming collective power of… not a whole heck of a lot. We might actually have to go to Starbucks for a whole week.

  10. From one of the members in a group in the CA bay area that was there from the start. Thank you for your support.
    As the movement grew and more and more supporters came, we broke up into more localized groups.

  11. “The only way that a FiveseveN is going to penetrate a soft armor vest is with armor-piercing rounds which are not for sale to civilians.”
    I hate it when people make arguments like this.
    Saying that we already lost that right so don’t worry about it is not conducive to our cause. It’s just like when people say “Well we’re not buying machine guns there is nothing to be afraid of!”

    • Seems to me like the people who don’t wear body armor and might end up in a situation where they need to shoot someone wearing body armor are exactly the people who should be buying armor-piercing rounds. I hate how the government pushes regulations like that to try to rig the odds in their favor if there’s ever another civil war (no AP rounds, making the price of full auto weapons outrageously expensive due to the Hughes amendment, etc).

  12. I won’t be open carrying on Feb 14, but I will be supporting Starbucks. I don’t think there’s any need to make a statement by open carrying. What matters is if Starbucks sees a surge in sales because of this “controversy”.

  14. An excellent suggestion has been made to the $2.00 bill idea.

    Instead of paying with a $2.00 bill which may annoy that employees ( no spot in the cash drawer for them ) TIP the employees with the $2.00 bill and “…tell them that you’re a gun owner, and you appreciate then staying out of the gun control debate. Don’t say you appreciate them being pro-gun or supporting the Second Amendment. The corporate guys at Starbucks don’t want to be pro-gun or anti-gun, and aren’t going to be comfortable being seen as either.”

    I think this is a much better use of our efforts and money and will hopefully be
    A) Memorable and notable causing people to talk about it.
    B) Make the employees happy and have good feelings about gun owners.
    C) Demonstrate to the employees the size, variety and courtesy of firearms owners.

    “C” may not be needed in some areas of the country but in others (such as my stomping grounds Chicagoland) gun ownership is not viewed as a normal, mainstream thing. This could change a number of peoples perception.

    Also on a related note Starbucks gift cards do NOT have an expiration date so I plan to be buying up a number of Starbucks gift cards for use on birthdays, Christmas, “thank you” gifts etc….
    I hope a large number of other people do as well.

    NukemJim

    Al

  15. The FN FiveseveN can not penetrate ballististic vests no matter what it’s loaded with. It’s not particularly pointy and thus would bounce off even a weak man’s chest. GUNS DON’T PENETRATE ANYTHING unless thrown with sufficient force!

    • Actually, they ARE “particularly pointy” and the standard military/LE SS190 ball load features a 31-grain FMJBT that is classified by the BATFE as armor piercing, hence it is not available to civilians. An image of this black tipped round is shown at the source below.

      “To cut through body armor the .224-inch-diameter SS190 projectile incorporates a cone-shaped steel penetrator sitting atop an aluminum core surrounded by a steel jacket… This 5.7x28mm load was specifically designed to defeat a NATO CRISAT target (consisting of a 1.6mm titanium plate with 20 Kevlar folds), and it will–even at 200 meters.”

      For commercial sales (civilian use) FN developed the SS195 LF JHP and SS196 V-Max.

      Source: http://www.shootingtimes.com/2011/01/03/handgun_reviews_fnusg_021207/

  16. I OC up here in the great Pacific Northwest. Here, around the Puget Sound area, we have regular get togethers at Starbucks. Ever since this whole thing started it’s been our meeting place of choice. As a matter of fact, we have regularly scheduled meets every 1st and 2nd Saturday.Personally, I don’t think this “boycott” will go anywhere or even be noticed by Starbucks. I predict increasing record profits brought on by those of us who oppose they who would do their best to deny us our freedom. My Great aunt did a genealogical study several years ago, in which she supposedly found that Thomas Jefferson is my many times great uncle. I can’t say as to the accuracy of her research, but if we ARE related I’d like to think he’d be proud of me.

  18. Ya the 5.7 fn is very light and blunt so you wouldnt ever be able to throw it near as hard as you would need to penetrate a vest!
    But they do make bayonets that clip on rails that would help penetrate but still down see it happening

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