Other Gubernatorial Candidates on Guns In Restaurants
Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons:
Gibbons spokesman Joe Hall told NashvillePost.com Gibbons is “adamantly opposed” to guns in bars and restaurants and has said so publicly.
“Gibbons says guns and alcohol don’t mix. He also believes it was wrong to dismiss bar and restaurant owners – a group that opposes gun carry into establishments,” Hall wrote in an e-mail.
But would not veto it since it will pass anyway.
I support the Second Amendment as much as anyone, but I strongly agree with Governor Bredesen and law enforcement officials from across the state that guns and alcohol do not mix. That’s just common sense.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:43 am
It’s so much common sense that even though it’s still illegal to drink and carry in TN you have to make it illegaller!
Man, you guys got something in your water supply or what? The pants shitting is of epic proportions over this.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:13 am
There seems to be an inordinate amount of CYA going on here, just in case a licensed holder gets likkered up and goes on a shooting spree in a restaurant.
Having taken these positions the anti-gunners likely are preparing to wallow in the blood of any restaurant incident to change this rights victory for TN residents.
What will be the pro-rights, pro-gun response if some bozo with a CHL does drop his Glock in a restaurant bathroom or leave it in a booth or, God forbid, have a negligent discharge or (worst case) draw and shoot somebody that did not need shot….
June 1st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Bill Gibbons presides as the chief law enforcement officer of a city which has finished 2d, 4th and 2d in violent crime over the last 3 years.
Why would anyone take seriously his opinions about whether it’s safe for law-abiding citizens in his fair city to protect themselves?
I don’t drink and I like going out to restaurants in Memphis, but I don’t care to be another Memphis crime statistic.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
The real key is banning violence in restaurants. Because people can commit acts of violence with impunity right now in restaurants and elsewhere. As long as you ban violence, people stop being evil.
Oh wait …
June 1st, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I wonder if Gibbons orders his officers to leave their firearms behind when they go to restaurants that serve alcohol?
(Nah, not really)
June 1st, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Mikee: The same response as when a cop does it, as they do with depressing regularity*:
“He was an idiot who sadly revealed himself too late to prevent any damage being done.”
(* Though as far as I know *more* often than CHL holders, since civilians tend to train more and have a far lower incidence of Bad Cop Attitude.)
People carrying a concealed weapon on their persons don’t tend to “leave them”, though. Part of legal concealed carry is in almost all cases a secure holster that doesn’t permit the firearm just falling out while you sit…
June 1st, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Real power being given to the people always results in some type of pants shitting by politicians. Anytime power (or money) is taken from their hands the bitching and moaning starts.
Let’em cry and wail……….they did the same thing when CCW was introduced, and they are doing it now. Goes to show nobody believes a word they say anyway…..
June 1st, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Lets put this statement in a more general context;
“I support the Bill of Rights as much as anyone, but I strongly agree with Governor Bredesen and law enforcement officials from across the state that human rights do not apply if there is any alcohol within, say, fifty feet. That’s just common sense.”
Better now?
June 1st, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Well, crap, who else is running?
June 1st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Guns and Alcohol don’t mix. Fine, I concur, and all that. Do the Police and County Sheriff’s offices in Tennessee require their officers to disarm when they go out drinking? Does the State Police have such a regulation?
Do they fire the officers who are armed and out in a bar partying? Or is this another law for thee, and not for me?
Just askin’ the question.
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 am
Actually I am challenging the assumption that guns and alcohol do not mix. Many people drink and alcohol alone does not cause a person to change into a violent murderer. All alcohol does is lower the inhibitions so some could get violent and most will not. A violent person probably should not carry a weapon since that person has less control over his/her emotional reactions.
The real problem with alcolhol and drinking is that you coordination gets worse so your shooting accuracy goes down.
Same as with driving. One drink of beer,wine or a mixed drink does not impair the judgement and coordination so less not get hysterical.
If carry is legal then it should be legal everywhere in bars and restaurants. Once a person commits a criminal assault then that person should be arrested and tried and it does not matter if that person had a CCW or not.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:06 am
“And since the bill allows us to post (signs notifying patrons that no guns are allowed), it puts us in a position to have to choose which groups of people we’re going to alienate.” The hospitalier spokesman said.
Private property carries rsponsibilities. The restaurants and bars will have to choose whether to allow or not and possibly hurt their business. The can no longer use the state law as a crutch.
Let them post their signs and gun carry patrons can let them know they will not patronize and that the restaurant is losing business.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 am
I continue to be amazed that the whole “guns and alcohol don’t mix” argument comes up with a bill that strictly forbids consumption when carrying (never mind that most states like my home Virginia have separate laws against being intoxicated while possessing a firearm). Virginia’s Timmy “Million Mom March” Kaine did the same thing when he vetoed our bill. However, it was no surprise when he did it. He had an “F” rating from NRA.
I could just as easily drink in my home and then go leave, carrying my firearm but like every other CHP holder I know, I don’t.
CHP holders obey the law, which is why so few permits are revoked.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Common sense ain’t all that common, but it is often claimed by those who have none.
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Ok, let’s see here. To date no one can accuse me of shooting anybody in more than sixty years. I have been an entusiastic imbiber for most of them, I have been a firearms owner for most of them, so somebody owes me some corpses, right?
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:21 am
All y’all who wet their panties over the very *IDEA* that a licensed CCW holder might take their gun into a restaurant should get a grip on yourselves. By your trying to prevent law-abiding folks from being able to defend themselves, you’re trying to enable another Killeen, Texas. Or have you forgotten how a madman drove his pickup truck into Luby’s Cafeteria there and then started shooting people like they were fish in a barrel? Or perhaps you had you head stuck up your rectal orifice when the news of that was announced?
Y’all can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby's_massacre. Also read about Suzanna Gratia Hupp at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanna_Hupp. She was there that day with her parents when they were killed by the madman. She carried a concealed pistol, but had complied with then Texas law and had left it out in her vehicle, which resulted in the deaths of her parents and 21 other folks. She could have stopped the carnage early if she had been armed.
Also, Suzanna has this great quote at the 2nd link cited above: “How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual… as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of.”
–chicopanther