Dining while armed
Via Adam Groves, we learn there is a push for the restaurant carry bill again:
Tennessee gun rights advocates will continue to push legislation allowing gun permit holders to carry firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol, said James Folkner, founder of the new Chattanooga chapter for the Tennessee Firearms Association.
Under the current law, gun owners can enter an eatery and break the law without knowing the restaurant serves alcohol, he said. The bill’s intent is to keep gun owners “from becoming criminals just when we go out to eat,” said Mr. Folkner, a 21-year-old University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior.
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Wow, that’s an incredibly bad argument. Anybody who can’t handle the responsibility of complying with such a simple law as “guns don’t go where booze goes” really shouldn’t be carrying a gun at all.
There’s some good reasons for letting people carry in restaurants that serve booze, but this isn’t one of them.
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:20 pm
As I’ve said before, the law should just make drinking and packing illegal. I can legally go to a freind’s house, get hammered and carry a gun legally. That’s pretty dangerous, IMO.
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Brute: booze in this case serves beer, so it can be easy to miss. Pizza Hut? They serve beer. So does the sushi place, the little deli on the corner, and Chuck E. Cheese. People hear alcohol and think “biker bar,” but there are lots of innocuous places that serve alcohol. And besides, the issue should be whether you’re drinking, not whether there’s alcohol in the building.
BTW, you can’t get a handgun carry permit in Tennessee if you’ve ever had a DUI, committed a felony, or been committed for alcohol or drug abuse. Part of your application fee pays for a criminal background check.
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Here is even a better argument, if you comply you are putting what you want to use for protection in your car where it can be stolen.
Even if you comply with the law you are opening yourself up to getting your weapon stolen.
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:41 pm
“serves” should be “includes”
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
It ought to depend on how much you drink, too. If you’ve consumed one beer at dinner, and you’re still legal to drive, why not legal to pack, too?
January 23rd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
There are many different types of alcoholic beverages in my house at all times, and I carry a loaded pistol at home. Would that make me a criminal? It’s mostly a rhetorical question. Here are some more;
Does your right to self defense end when a bottle of beer is offered for sale in a restaurant?
What about a neighbor’s house, where they might be consuming alcohol?
A county fair?
Church?
Shouldn’t it be the choice of the restaurant owners, whether or not they want guns in there?
What happened to the concept of property?
Knowing that the customers inside are more likely to be unarmed, would not criminals feel more comfortable targeting restaurants?
Does the Second Amendment have any qualifiers in it, or does it say, “…shall not be infringed, except in the following circumstances…” or “…shal not be infringed, except when legislators want it infringed…”?
Ask state representative Suzanna Huppe from killeen, Texas about gunbs in restaurants;
http://home.elp.rr.com/elpasochl/susanhupp.html
The reason this govenrment was formed was not to keep us safe from ourselves. Remember, it was formed to secure our rights.
January 23rd, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Reminds me of something from the Neal Knox list:
http://www.nealknox.com/alerts/msg00004.html
Heh
January 23rd, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I am more concerned about the corner gas station than most restaraunts. If I understand the law I cannot legally carry anywhere alcohol is served or SOLD, so this means the place where most holdups occur is the place I cannot carry the best form of self defense available.
Funny thought about church though. Lutheran,Catholics, you get served so no carrying.
January 23rd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Actually, it’s where served not where sold.
January 24th, 2006 at 12:46 am
At one of the ranges I frequent there’s a bar on premise — but you can’t take your guns inside the bar area.
The shotgun/rifle rack is about 2 steps out the door. Same place the pistol shooters put their bags too.
I’ve been there many times where there were more drinkers than shooters — but there was still a crapload of guns just outside that door. Heck, even seen some flat out DRUNK people in there… like the guy that drove his John Deere tractor there. He wasn’t there to shoot.
Do I worry? Nope. Gun folk are good folk, generally speaking.