Retail companies are indeed free to ask customers not to pack on their premises. Starbucks, however, decided to maintain the policy it has always had – not to bar weapons in shops located in communities where so-called "open carry" laws are on the books. Consistent? Yes. Popular? Not with gun-control groups, notably the nationwide Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, whose members are as angry as scorpions in a cookie jar. Last week, protesters from both sides descended on Starbucks shops in the chain's home town of Seattle, and in other cities. That the company finds itself at the centre of the wider national gun-ownership debate is not making it happy. "Advocacy groups from both sides of this issue have chosen to use Starbucks as a way to draw attention to their positions," it said in a statement. "As the public debate continues, we are asking all interested parties to refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners [employees] into the middle of this divisive issue ... The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores."

I suddenly find that I can afford over-priced coffee, again ...