"starbucks gun control" news and stories

Gun owners and gun-control advocates are duking it out in an unlikely place these days -- Starbucks.

Bearers-of-arms have begun gathering at Starbucks in Northern California after Peet's Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen put policies in place to ban firearms on the premises, CNNMoney.com reported.

Several gun rights groups have been holding monthly meetings at San Francisco-area Starbucks, but gun-control groups want the coffee chain to ban guns in its stores, ABC News reported in January.

"While we deeply respect the views of all our customers, Starbucks long-standing approach to this issue remains unchanged. We comply with local laws and statutes in all the communities we serve," a Starbucks company spokesperson told Slashfood in a statement.

"In this case, 43 of the 50 U.S. states have open carry weapon laws. Where these laws don't exist, we comply with laws that prohibit the open carrying of weapons."