‘Gun Owners Support Starbucks Day’ Mixes Coffee and Second Amendment Rights

Guns and Starbucks are mixing together in a surprising way thanks to this inaugural celebration.

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Stefan Wermuth / REUTERS

Last month, Second-Amendment enthusiasts rallied together for the poorly timed Gun Appreciation Day. Last week, a man set a new and dangerous record for the most expensive Starbucks drink ever. Now, guns and coffee are mixing together in a surprising new celebration: Today is Gun Owners Support Starbucks Day.

Why are gun owners such big fans of Starbucks? The coffee giant is pretty tolerant about gun owners, and its open-carry policy allows customers with firearms to enter its stores like any other customer. As long as you’re abiding by local laws, your right to bear arms and your right to a skinny cinnamon dolce latte (no whip, no foam) are guaranteed.

That’s not how the National Gun Victims’ Action Council feels, though. Earlier this month, the anti-gun group and several other organizations protested the policy with a Brew Not Bullets campaign to boycott Starbucks on Valentine’s Day.

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“It causes fear and intimidation among the public,” Brian Malte of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which participated in the boycott, told NBC Washington. “We don’t think Starbucks customers or the public in general should have to deal with people who are obviously not uniformed police officers carrying loaded, open-carry guns in public.”

The Seattle-based coffee chain has refused to back down, saying it wasn’t a good idea for the company to defy local laws; now gun supporters are eager to express their thanks.

Of all the days to shop at Starbucks, though, why today? February 22nd is 2/22, a pretty significant day when your favorite amendment is the second one. According to the day’s Facebook event page, the three 2s represent everything the Second Amendment helps protect: “defense of ourselves, defense of our families and communities and defense of our great country.”

Dedicated gun owners are already planning to make this demonstration an annual event. And for the truly dedicated, there’s only one way to put your money where your mouth is — by paying for your drinks (and tipping baristas) with only $2 bills.

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