Written by: Stephen Cavallaro

Like guns? Hope you don’t drink coffee.

In an interview conducted earlier this week with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Schultz urged gun-toting patrons to leave their guns at home or refrain from indulging in his company’s products. As a stream of shooting sprees have struck the media over the last couple of years and as big government wages war against second-amendment advocates, Schultz’s remarks are nothing further than a wonderful business plan.

Unfortunately, like many business decisions purported by greedy corporate America, Schultz’s plan has been engineered to subtly infringe upon, rather than openly benefit, his patrons. The interview serves as a prime demonstration of how Schultz would rather encourage his liberal fan base to be more politically correct at the expense of their own safety.

After all, statistics have faithfully proven that gun bans increase murder over the long term and that when right-to-carry laws are enacted the murder rate decreases instantly. In a study conducted by Just Facts, the murder rate in Florida dropped an average of 36 percent after the Florida right-to-carry act was made effective in 1987.

As of 2010, 1,825,143 permits have been issued and only 168 permits had been revoked due to crimes related to the usage of a firearm.

Concealed weapon owners (CCW), while rare, are heroes. In June of 2012, a man named Samuel Williams saved thirty people at an internet cafe by shooting two armed robbers in Florida. That May in Utah, a man held another man, who was involved in a stabbing spree, at gunpoint until police could get to the scene. This CCW put an end to a twelve-year unbeknownst career in crime.

Most college students do not want handguns on their campus. A study conducted in the Midwest by Ball State University displayed that 78 percent of students were against handguns on their campus. Currently at VSU, firearms are not permitted.

Regardless, when the only people on campus with access to firearms are a handful of cops who are not legally bounded to protecting you, a little peace of mind knowing you have your own back with your own gun would be harmless.

Schultz’s message was a plea for civility, but Americans are not exactly known for their civility. Possessing the ability to carry a gun in a venue as populated as a popular coffee shop allows you to keep yourself safe from potential uncivil attacks by gunmen, who probably obtained their weapon illegally by being uncivil to someone else. The more people who have guns, the more likely a non-law abiding citizen is either going to be discouraged or deterred from committing a violent crime.

Banning guns in any environment will not ensure that guns won’t be used for harm on said premise, if someone wants to insight a shooting spree at the local Starbucks they are going to do it, weather the people who run the shop like guns or not. Thus allowing honest people to carry guns in your venue acts as a security measure rather than an uncivilized crime.

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