The Tennessee Senate approved the bill allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry their weapons into places that serve alcohol:

More than 100,000 Tennesseans who hold handgun carry permits will be able to pack their pistols into establishments that sell alcoholic beverages for the first time under legislation approved overwhelmingly by the Senate on Wednesday.

The state’s gun permit law, adopted in 1997 amid considerable controversy, included a provision forbidding pistols in bars as a concession to critics.

Experience since then has shown that permit holders are law-abiding citizens and the restriction is unnecessary, said Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, sponsor of the bill.

“They respect the law. We have had no problems at all,” he said. “The experiment is over.”

And I love this quote:

“All the doomsday we heard at that time – there’ll be shoot-outs at stop signs and all – have never happened,” Ramsey said.

Some details about the bill:

Jackson said the permit-holders now run the risk of having their weapons stolen when they go into a restaurant, leaving guns inside cars in “a dark parking lot.” He said that poses a greater risk than having the weapon taken inside.

The bill specifies that the permit-holder cannot consume alcoholic beverages himself and allows restaurant and bar owners to decide individually not to allow weapons in their establishments.

Posted in uncategorized on March 24th, 2005 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |