Gun advocates are reportedly set to hold a “Starbucks Appreciation Day” at an establishment in Newtown, Conn., to celebrate the ability to carry weapons in the store. Gun control groups have vehemently criticized the event as “reprehensible.”
NBC affiliate WVIT reported that gun rights advocates are using Facebook to rally supporters to head to Starbucks stores across the nation Friday to celebrate the coffee chain’s open policy on carrying weapons. The company doesn’t prohibit customers from openly carrying guns in states where it is legal. The “Starbucks appreciation day” Facebook page says they want to thank Starbucks for standing up for the right to bear arms.
One post by a Ridgefield, Conn., resident on the “CT Open Carry” page caught some attention. The resident said he and some members from the Connecticut Citizens Defense League were going to meet Friday evening at the Starbucks at 34 Church Hill Road in Newtown, the town where 26 people were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last year. (The Hartford Courant has a screengrab of the post, which appears to have been taken down.)
The Newtown Action Alliance, a group set up in the wake of the Dec. 14 tragedy, responded by calling the plans “reprehensible.”