February 14, 2012

An Open Letter to Starbucks Concerning Your Gun Policy From the Faith Community:

Valentine’s Day, 2012 will be a busy day for Starbucks. Thousands of NRA-supporting gun owners have pledged to visit their local Starbucks nationwide, buying lattes to say “thank you Starbucks” for welcoming handguns and other firearms in your stores. They are promising to bring their guns and families and yes, there’s a t-shirt.

Many of us in faith communities want to thank Starbucks, too, albeit for corporate policies that position your brand as socially responsible. Last month, Starbucks joined other Pacific Northwest conglomerates, including Nike, Microsoft, Group Health, Google and Alcoa, to endorse a “marriage equality for same-sex partners” bill in the Washington State Legislature. This came on top of an earlier decision by Starbucks to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the federal definition of marriage as one man and one woman. As Kalen Holmes, your Executive Vice President of Partner Resources, stated, Starbucks “remains committed to providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work environment for all our partners.”

Thank you, Starbucks, for this inspiring example of corporate clout used on behalf of public safety and fairness. You have shown that Starbucks wants to do what is best for people; some would say you have stepped out for peace and justice. Corporations can indeed help change the laws of the land on behalf of peace with justice.

Today, we ask you to take the next logical step in corporate responsibility and leadership. Join Disney, IKEA, Peets, California Pizza Kitchen and other chains to ban handguns and other firearms in your stores. It is, as Dr. Holmes has said, a matter of providing an inclusive, supportive and safe work environment, not only for your partners but also your customers. Now that you have made the corporate decision to sell beer and wine in your stores, the issue of public safety is heightened: guns and alcohol do not mix. This past December, a 17-year-old dropped her purse in a Cheyenne (Wyoming) Starbucks and the gun inside went off, the bullet missing a customer’s head by twelve inches. Will it take a death to convince Starbucks to ban guns?

Surely you recognize the danger of people carrying guns: you do not allow any guns in your corporate headquarters, guns are barred from your annual shareholder meeting and your company policy forbids employees from bringing guns to work. Why would you conclude that it is a good policy to allow gun-carrying customers to be the only ones to bring guns onto Starbucks premises?

We also hope to say “thank you” soon for leadership on the legislative front¬–the kind of leadership you are exercising with respect to marriage equality. So far, your publicized rationale in defense of welcoming guns in your stores has simple: you state that Starbucks is just following the law, state by state. That means that in 43 states you welcome openly carried guns and other firearms, while saying ‘yes’ to concealed carry in 49 states. But the law in all 50 states allows you to ban guns from your stores. Starbucks can do more than choose between competing laws. Starbucks can help change the law! Starbucks can use its corporate clout, in cooperation with others to challenge the powerful gun lobby, end the impasse in Washington that has blocked any meaningful gun violence prevention legislation in the 18 years since the Brady Bill was passed.

Starbucks has said it is good business to provide a safe environment for all its partners (employees). Banning guns is, indeed, good business. There are 14 million people in the United States–victims of gun violence and their families and friends–who are looking forward to saying, “Thanks, Starbucks, I’d like a latte please!”

Until that great day dawns, a lot of us will be saying “no thanks” to Starbucks stores and products.

Dr. Linda Gaither, chair of the National Executive Council, Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Dr. Mark C. Johnson, executive director, Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Reverend Jacqueline Goler Lynn, executive director, Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Shauen V. T. Pearce, program director, Task Force on Social, Economic and Racial Justice, Fellowship of Reconciliation