Starbucks Weighs in on Gun Debate

Starbucks is about coffee. It's about half-eaten croissants. It sits at that odd intersection of where to grab a cup o' joe – and where to meet up with Joe.

But there's a third street that crosses this same intersection: Starbucks is widely-viewed as a company with a social conscience and a progressive mindset. Its employees got decent benefits before most. Its environmental record is better than most. And its record of charitable giving is stellar.

So when guns, of all things, kidnapped the conversation earlier this summer — after gun advocacy groups used the Starbucks store in still-healing Newtown, Conn., as a podium for packing heat — Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz suddenly found himself in the middle of a no-win shootout.

His announcement Wednesday that guns are now a no-no at Starbucks stores is long overdue. The Starbucks siren must be feeling just a tad more comfortable today. More importantly, so will most Starbucks customers. Although Schultz, in an interview with USA TODAY, declined to state exactly how many Starbucks customers have asked him in recent months to get guns out of Starbucks cafes, he did note, "It got my attention."

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