honor the request and not bring the gun into starbucks. then there s walmart would like to sit out this controversy, but it can t. the company has released specific gun sales data. it was reported some walmart sold out of the ar-15 rifle in the days following the newtown massacre. the very type of firearm involve ared in the shooting. i ask the u.s. walmart s ceo if he has second thoughts about el issing these types of firearms in the same stores that would ban a cd for controversial lyrics? we are very responsible in our sales are firearms. something we re focused on. the debate in the country, whether it s legal or illegal is something we don t participate in dine to day basis. that s something congress deals with. if they re sold in the u.s., we want them sold through formal channels rather than through gun shows. no matter how a gun is purchased or obtained, the gun debate has changed since last december.
been mischaracterized as being either pro or anti-gun. we re neither and we re not a policy-maker. we are a company that is in business to serve customers. and as a result of the misz characterization as well as a number of episodes in which people have walked into our stores carrying guns. customers have felt significantly uncomfortable. children have felt uncomfortable. so, poppy, that seems like kind of a cop-out to me. he s talked about a lot of social issues. he puts his views right out there. so why not say you re pro or anti-gun? i hear you. that was a question to him as well. starbucks has come out vocally pro-gay marriage. last year he will called on all americans to stop political donations until washington really got its act together. so they ve been out in front with a clear, clear message on controversial topics. poppy? i m sorry. i have to interrupt you, but the
won t we ll still serve them, not ask them to leave. but still, i hear what he said. he s just talking about this just because. but something must have prompted him to say these things. a number of things are going on here, carol. 43 states are open carry states. that means if you have a legally licensed gun, you can carry it visibly and carry it into frankly most businesses. you can carry it into starbucks, walmart, target, duncan doughnuts, a few businesses ban them like amc theaters and pete s coffee. because of that, we ve seen gatherings of pro-gun activists over the past few years and it s hatch ratcheted up. in newtown there was one planned last month where they come in with guns, post meetings in starbucks stores. howard schultz is clear, they re not welcome to do this. this is bothering most customers. they don t want to see it. but also what i think is interesting, the newtown action
should not be part of the starbucks experience. and as a result of that making that decision, we are respectfully requesting that those customers who are carrying a gun just honor the request and not bring the gun into starbucks. schultz added that starbucks isn t banning weapons from its stores. customers who bring guns into the store will still be served. they will not be asked to leave. but schultz is just saying, please, don t do it. the man behind the deadly shooting at washington s navy yard had a history of violence with weapons and a history of arrests and anger issues. yet aaron alexis legally brought a shotgun in virginia, which he then used to gun down 12 people on monday. this morning i d like to talk not about gun control but the gun laws already on the books. laws many say ought to be enough to stop many instances of gun violence. joseph green is a retired atf agent. thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. good morning. thanks for having me. it s a
this is an open letter that howard schultz penned. it will run in newspapers across the country tomorrow morning, and he is not banning guns but saying, we do not want them in our stores. we talked to him about why. listen. why are you doing this, and why are you doing it right now? i think it s important to start the conversation by framing the fact that starbucks is not a policy-maker and we re not pro or anti-gun. however, we do believe that guns should not be part of the starbucks experience. as a result of that, making that decision, we are respectfully requesting that those customer whoz are carrying a gun just honor the request and not bring the gun into starbucks. we re also saying something else. this is not a ban. the reason it s not a ban is that we don t want to put our own people in a position of having to confront somebody who s carrying a weapon. so those customers who will bring in the gun we hope they