NH:Armed Citizen Confronted at Starbucks

[Dean Weingarten]

Photo by Dave Workman​

A mother needed to use the Internet to order items required by a minor emergency on the road. Naturally, she turned to Starbucks.

Starbucks has become known nationally for its neutral policy on the carry of firearms. If you are following the law, Starbucks is willing to take your money in exchange for their product. Here is what happened in a New Hampshire Starbucks as written by the mother it happened to, Riana, on opencarry.org:

Here I am, minding my own business, sitting with my husband and son in the Starbucks on Main Street. I had several things to take care of, as our vacation plans have been drastically altered by a broken-down vehicle, and needed internet access to handle them.

A man came up to me, pointed at my holstered sidearm, and asked rather indignantly, "What is that?"

I replied, "That is my defensive sidearm, sir."

"Well, I'm glad you feel safer, but I don't." he said.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir," I said calmly.

The complainer then went immediately (and loudly) went to the staff, demanding they "do something" about me. The staff simply responded that I was well within my rights, and they would do nothing. He told them he didn't feel safe, and another customer piped in that he indeed felt safer with me carrying a sidearm. The complainer then left the store in a huff, hollering that he would never come back to this store, because of the policy.

Later the customer who piped up came by and thanked me for carrying. The staff never made any comment to me. My son did note, however, that the complainer drove off in a car with Massachusetts plates, so that explains a lot.

This is an unusual experience for people who openly carry firearms. I have openly carried firearms for many years, and the number of negative encounters, all milder than the one above, can be numbered on the fingers of one hand. It might help that I have been told that I have a mild and inoffensive appearance. I have also been told that I look like a policeman. Fortunately, I have never had another person loudly complain to management that I was allowed to carry a firearm.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/09/nharmed-citizen-confronted-at-starbucks.html

 

[Ryanxia]

Massghanistan plates is a clear indicator where one needs a FOID card just to purchase pellets for a pellet rifle.

That guy should be told that if he intends to stay out of ALL businesses that allow law abiding citizens to enter there are A LOT he's going to have to stop going to.

Maine and NH are fairly loose with our gun laws and pretty safe for the most part (big cities are always higher crime but still not nearly as bad as other big cities). I find it amusing when out of staters come/move here because they like it so much then immediately begin to try and change it to be just like where they left.

 

[Salmoneye]

I find it amusing when out of staters come/move here because they like it so much then immediately begin to try and change it to be just like where they left.

Sidewalks, stop-lights, and police departments...

 

[Ryanxia]

Sidewalks, stop-lights, and police departments...

Exactly. We don't need or want those.

But seriously my town has lasted at least as long as I've been there (13 years) without a police department and we do just fine. Everybody's got their gun and/or a dog and very little break-ins.

 

[Texshooter]

If the "complainer" approached me in this fashion (no "excuse me", or no name introduction, etc) I would have not responded to him at all.

 

[smalls]

"I feel unsafe that this person is carrying a firearm, lets go yell at them!"

Makes total sense!

 

[Stress_Test]

You're expecting a rabid anti-gun person to be logical??

Good luck with that!

 

[fanchisimo]

I thinks Small's idea says a lot. This is how I think his side of the story would have went down later.

Person 1: "That lady had a gun in Starbucks, and I let her have it."
Person 2: "So this lady had a gun..."
Person 1: "Yes."
Person 2: "...and your plan was to go yell at her?"
Person 1: "..."

 

[hunterwinco]

I have never heard Massganistan before...Here in Maine, we refer to them as "Mass-holes". No offense to my brethren here on the HighRoad from Massachusetts. We have plenty of liberal whack-o's here in Maine that would run their mouths to someone carrying. I once had someone who started to verbally assault me when they saw my "Life Member of the NRA" decal on my truck! I just stood there, locked eyes with them and said "If I am truly the gun nut that you think I am WHY in HELL are you in my face right now!" They quickly pondered what I was saying, turned and walked quickly away

 

[basicblur]

A man came up to me, pointed at my holstered sidearm, and asked rather indignantly, "What is that?"

I refer you to the wisdom of Raylan Givens, who probably said it best;
You'll pay to find that out...

 

[-Gadsden-]

aka Taxachusetts

 

[medalguy]

OT but does Taxachusetts still tax you on the number of toilets in your house?

 

[gamestalker]

I too have been carrying open for many years and can pretty much count on one hand the number of negative encounters from the left side. I do recall one particular instance in which a man approached me and made an insulting, vulgar, and profane remark. He called me some choice vulgar names, and then he demanded for the manager of the Walley World to call the police, which the manager refused to do. Then the complaining customer called the police, and they refused to come out, since a crime had not been commited. Long story short, the man dorve off in his California license plate automobile, key word here "California".

Although this hasn't happened to me but just a few times over the last 40 or so years, it has happened more than once. A woman, who was also from California, also called the police stating that, she felt threatened because a man was wearing a gun in the fast food restaurant. That incident also ended with LE refusing to come out. Well, I'm never coming back this state again!

My Son and I were in a convenience store grabbing something cold to drink, standing in front of us was an LEO, behind us a Californian as it turned out. Same scenario, except the customer grabbed the cop by the arm, then turned him around to show him that two men wearing guns were making him feel threatened. That guy stormed out of the store before even getting his drink, right after the LEO told him to not put his hands on him, and that my Son and I were not in violation of Arizona law, and that this is Arizona Sir, not California! As he was leaving I appologizede to the customer for their discomfort, as I can some what understand how it might feel if you've never been exposed to firearms. The customer looked sincerely tramatized and shook up, and I also wanted to try and leave them with as much of a positive impression of gun toting law abiding Americans as possible, rather than taunting him.

GS

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Okay, building on comments here I'll have make a note to myself to ask such a person "if people with guns are as bad as you think, aren't you afraid confronting one will get you shot?"

About the time of the Million Moms March some soccer moms ran into this dilemma. They were going to go door to door to hustle for their cause and it dawned on them that behind one of those doors they might find a gun owner. They fell to their own propaganda and decided the door to door was too dangerous.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Starbucks is being to concede to the anti-gun groups...

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/starbucks-guns-unwelcome-banned-20288279

Starbucks Says Guns Unwelcome, Though Not Banned

Schultz hopes people will honor the request not to bring in guns but says the company will nevertheless serve those who do.

"We will not ask you to leave," he said.

The Seattle-based company plans to buy ad space in major national newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and USA Today on Thursday to run an open letter from Schultz explaining the decision. The letter points to recent activities by both gun rights and gun control advocates at its stores, saying that it has been "thrust unwillingly" into the middle of the national debate over firearms.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/18/news/companies/starbucks-guns/

Schultz said customers who bring in guns will still be served and won't be asked to leave. Starbucks isn't imposing a ban on firearms because "we don't want to put our people in the position of having to confront somebody who's carrying a weapon," he said.

http://www.starbucks.com/blog/an-open-letter-from-howard-schultz/1268

 

[beatledog7]

A person who claims to feel unsafe around firearms intentionally places himself closer to one and points at it?

Sounds to me like just another anti-2A activist seeking attention.

 

[HexHead]

If the "complainer" approached me in this fashion (no "excuse me", or no name introduction, etc) I would have not responded to him at all.

I would responded and told him it was none of his effin business and to get out of my face.

 

[TRX]

It's a certain kind of mindset, where some people feel they have the right, or maybe the duty, to walk up to a complete stranger and expound their social prejudices.

I've had people walk up to me in parking lots, point at my motorcycle, and expound at length about "donorcycles" and quadraplegics. I've seen them walk up to a friend who's a smoker and give him lectures on lung cancer. I imagine if I lived in an open carry state, I would have experienced at least one encounter with some nutball who can't keep his opinions to himself.

 

[ChaoSS]

TRX, the motorcycle thing is easier to deal with. With guns, you don't want to get too confrontational, because then it's easier for them to say that you were being threatening.

With the bike thing, I just tell them the story about my uncle who got his skull bashed in for being too nosy. Or I tell them that a motorcycle might be dangerous, but so is being as fat as they are.