At least ONLY guns in bars passed
Now that the British Broadcasting Corporation is covering Tennessee’s obsession with liberating the populace from oppressive gun laws, I keep reminding myself that it could have been worse: English Only could have passed. I sure am proud of our state legislature.
Meanwhile, Big Gay Al is on the case, making sure that we “untrustworthy Tennesseans” know that “drinking while carrying a firearm is a bad idea.” (Surely there are more pressing issues in Michigan these days than weighing in on Tennessee gun laws.)
Related: Nashville Scene
July 14th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Actually, no. I don’t have anything better to do at the moment.
As my blog is mostly concerned with firearms/firearms laws related subjects, sporadically interspersed with other subjects, I try to keep watch on this subject where ever it might be. As it is, the information came to me by way of another member of the Pink Pistols. And yes, there are 3 chapters in Tennessee. Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville.
Be careful you don’t pick on the wrong homo, he might have something other than makeup in that purse.
July 14th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for commenting, Al. I think that’s great that there are Pink Pistols chapters here in Tennessee, too. I just wish they weren’t legally permitted to bring their weapons into restaurants and bars.
I respect your position on gun rights, but I have a different opinion about this issue. I favor the right of citizens to own firearms, but I don’t want them in public places such as restaurants and parks. Unfortunately for me, that’s the case as of today in Tennessee.
P.S. Nice! I like that last line. That was funny.
July 14th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I understand where you’re coming from. But I’m sure you realize, even if this law hadn’t passed, there would still be people who don’t obey the law, that WILL bring their guns into those places, and most likely, THEY will be there to cause trouble. I don’t know about anyone else, but I carry a pistol to protect myself.
My need for protection doesn’t stop at a businesses’ door. Evil people like to go into restaurants and bars also, and they don’t care if you have a sign that says “No Guns allowed.” And they don’t care if there’s a law that says they can’t take their guns into bars. In fact, most criminals LIKE those types of laws. It means there’s a bunch of potential victims inside.
We’ve had the ability to take our guns into restaurants that serve alcohol for more than a few years. So far as I am aware, no permit holder has caused any trouble with their pistol while in any such establishment.
I wish I knew where it was, but in an old issue of American Rifleman, there was an excerpt from a newspaper story of a bar patron in Indiana who stopped an attempted robbery.
My intuition tells me that all the hand wringing and doomsday predictions of “blood in the bar” will come to naught. We had similar predictions here when Michigan went from a “May Issue” state to “Shall Issue.” Yes, the number of applications did sky rocket. But, violence did not increase, and crime actually decreased a bit. But we had NONE of the stuff you’ve got in Tennessee when the law was changed here to allow guns in restaurants that serve alcohol.
Perhaps no one thought much of it, as it had been allowed before, when our permits were “May Issue.”
Anyway, Nice blog you have here.
July 16th, 2009 at 6:47 am
I definitely agree that criminals won’t obey “no guns” signs. I’m concerned that more guns, even licensed ones, in bars may lead to more bullets being fired. Patrons may be at risk of being hit by crossfire, or a well-intentioned gun owner may hit an innocent person by mistake.
I also worry that a gun owner who is perfectly responsible while sober may not be as careful or coolheaded when he’s had too much to drink. (I know that these kinds of laws prohibit consuming alcohol while carrying firearms, but I think that stipulation is very tough to enforce.)
I fear that passage of these kinds of laws may also encourage more law-abiding gun owners *and* more criminals to carry guns into restaurants and bars because of increased attention.
Thanks for your conscientious and respectful comments here. I appreciate your taking time to post and the kind words about my blog.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
“I’m concerned that more guns, even licensed ones, in bars may lead to more bullets being fired.”
Surprising as it may be, yours is not the first state to do this. In fact, Florida was the first state EVER to adopt Concealed Carry laws, and being able to carry in restaurants that serve alcohol has ALWAYS been a provision here.
It hasn’t been a problem here, nor in any other place that ‘allows’ people to do so.
Look at Virginia. You’re actually REQUIRED to EXPOSE your weapon in a bar, there!
Every time this moves to another state, it’s residents seem to forget that most of the rest of the country is already doing it, and it has had the opposite effect as the ‘fears’ and ‘what ifs’ that are dreamed up. It just doesn’t happen.
Theoretical ‘what if’ fears are simply not sane when juxtaposed to the documented reality of almost 30 years of actually doing it with the opposite results..
September 28th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Thanks for commenting, Dustin. I’m glad to hear that Tennessee didn’t lead the charge in passing the legislation, but I still think it’s a bad idea. I hope it is overturned someday.