Washington Times: Starbucks Gun Debate

The duel is over, and it's clear who won ... And it wasn't the Brady Campaign and their 28,000 petition signers to Starbucks:

"From sea to shining sea, the climate for guns is changing, and the progress extends beyond Starbucks. Major retailers such as Home Depot, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble apparently also are friendly to people who openly pack heat, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Brady Campaign warns businesses that allowing customers to carry guns will scare away other customers. Yet it seems pretty obvious that the businesses themselves - despite all the pressure they face from trial lawyers and bureaucrats to ban guns - are in a much better position to know what their customers want."

...

Liberals claim they believe in science, but guns vividly illustrate their intellectual blinders. There is not a single refereed study by criminologists or economists using crime data from across America that shows that right-to-carry laws increase violent crime. The academic debate in refereed journals has been over how large the benefits are.

Here is a prediction: In a very short time, all the furor over Starbucks' pro-gun policy will be forgotten. The gun grabbers might not like it, but most Americans respect the right to keep and bear arms - even in a coffee shop

Times are changing, and those changes started in Florida with Marion Hammer when in 1987 the Governor of Florida signed the first in the nation 'shall issue' concealed carry law. Since then, a steady progression of states has adopted concealed-carry laws modeled on Florida's, and more are likely to follow.

Now we're seeing something alone these lines nationwide, where simultaneously:

• an increase in gun sales to record levels, and increases in new gun owners;
• collapsing poll figures for more gun control, guns are bad and gun control is good;
• legislatures predictably pulling away from gun ban ideas, as well;
• the judiciary, not just the Supreme Court, is endorsing gun-rights;
• The Supreme Court decision in "Heller" ruled the 2nd Amendment is an enumerated individual right;
• The Supreme Court case "Chicago" is pending a ruling any time ... To apply the "Heller" decision by incorporation to the several States via the 14th Amendment;

It's hard to say which is cause and which is effect, or whether all are being driven by some manner of collective consciousness that guns mean safety. 38 States now have 'Shall Issue' concealed carry laws, and many more are following suit. Recently the National Parks were opened to 'State Law rules' regarding guns in National Parks.

The next big battle: The Florida "Castle Doctrine" law, now being looked at and adopted in several other States. Basically does these things:

• It establishes, in law, the presumption that a criminal who forcibly enters or intrudes into your home or occupied vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm, therefore a person may use any manner of force, including deadly force, against that person.
• It removes the "duty to retreat" if you are attacked in any place you have a right to be. You no longer have to turn your back on a criminal and try to run when attacked. Instead, you may stand your ground and fight back, meeting force with force, including deadly force, if you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to yourself or others. [This is an American right repeatedly recognized in Supreme Court gun cases.]
• It provides that persons using force authorized by law shall not be prosecuted for using such force.
• It also prohibits criminals and their families from suing victims for injuring or killing the criminals who have attacked them.

In short, the "Castle Doctrine" gives rights back to law-abiding people and forces judges and prosecutors who are prone to coddling criminals to instead focus on protecting victims.