Starbucks asked in a press release this morning that groups on both sides of the open-carry gun issue "refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners [employees] into the middle of this divisive issue."

It's responding to a public debate that's coming to Seattle this morning, when the Brady Campaign will hold a press conference near Pike Place Market before taking 28,000 signatures to Starbucks' headquarters to try to push the company to ban guns in its stores.

The Brady Campaign is reacting to Open Carry advocates who have appeared at Starbucks stores in other states to make a point about their right to openly carry guns. Other chains where they have appeared, including Peet's Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen, have complied with the Brady Campaign request.

Starbucks said in the release that it complies with local laws. "In this case, 43 of the 50 U.S. states have open carry weapon laws. Where these laws don't exist, we comply with laws that prohibit the open carrying of weapons. The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores," it said.

If it adopted a policy different from local laws allowing open carry, the company said, "we would be forced to require our partners to ask law abiding customers to leave our stores, putting our partners in an unfair and potentially unsafe position."

Starbucks knows the dangers of illegal and irresponsible gun use, it said. "Without minimizing this unfortunate reality, we believe that supporting local laws is the right way for us to ensure a safe environment for both partners and customers."

People on both sides commented on my post yesterday about this issue. One self-proclaimed liberal and NRA member brought up the coffee shop shootings in November of four police officers in Parkland:

"To me, it's the same as the Brady Campaign saying, 'If only that coffee shop had this ridiculous rule in place, Maurice Clemmons would've never walked in there and killed those four brave officers.'.... Could the Brady Campaign have picked a worse time and place for this? They might as well do it right at the door of Forza Coffee Shop in Parkland."