S.F. Beach on Front Line of Gun Battle

At a popular San Francisco beach last weekend, beachgoers caught a glimpse of an unusual sight. A group of men and women scattered along the sand were picking up trash. They also were armed with handguns.

The movement promoting "open carry" of firearms is picking up steam across the country after originating in Northern California- perhaps most notably with businesses like Starbucks saying they would allow customers to carry guns if state laws permitted them.

In San Francisco, the open carry movement was evident on Baker Beach Saturday, where San Jose resident Robert Montgomery told CBS station KPIX that he wanted to promote the message that "it's not just criminals who carry guns."

Gun rights activists have achieved some prominent victories recently, starting with a California appeals court overturning San Francisco's ban on handguns in 2008, followed several months later by the Supreme Court casting aside a similar ban in Washington, D.C.

More recently, a law went into effect in February allowing loaded firearms in national parks.

Currently, 43 states allow the open carrying of guns and Starbucks is one of several companies that reluctantly find themselves in the middle of a divisive debate, as businesses have the right to ban guns from their premises.

But Starbucks - along with other top companies like Wal Mart, Home Depot, Best Buy and Barnes and Noble, according to a Wall Street Journal report($) - are following individual states' lead on the issue.

"Were we to adopt a policy different from local laws allowing open carry, 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," the company said in a statement.

It said security measures are in place for any "threatening situation" that might occur in stores.

Gun control advocates are protesting the policy. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, launched a petition drive demanding that the company "offer espresso shots, not gunshots" and declare its coffeehouses "gun-free zones."

Starbucks asked both gun enthusiasts and gun-control advocates "to refrain from putting Starbucks or our partners into the middle of this divisive issue."

But the company is also angering some employees who feel their safety concerns have been overlooked in the debate.

"I think the policy shows complete disregard for the safety and sentiments of their workers. The only thing worse than a yuppie upset with how their frappuccino turned out is a yuppie with a gun who's unhappy with how their frappuccino turned out," Erik Forman, a Starbucks barista, told the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, the battle over gun rights will temporarily leave the beaches and coffee shops and return to the courtroom. The Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, the latest challenge to a local government's ban on weapons