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| Whiskey, gun. Photo: Swift Benjamin, Flickr |
Unless a judge grants a last-minute injunction, Tennessee residents with the proper permits will be able to carry their concealed, loaded firearms into restaurants serving alcohol starting this coming Tuesday. That makes Tennessee the first state in the nation to expressly allow folks to tuck their guns into hidden holsters and sidle up to the bar.
Attorney David Randolph Smith, who's representing 10 citizens opposing the law, says in what some might consider an understatement, "the problem with having guns where alcohol is served is that fights and breaches of the peace are known to occur."
Or, as Nashville songster Travis Tritt put it more lyrically in one of his biggest hits: "Each time I drink, I start to think I'm 10-feet tall and bulletproof."
Smith's clients, however, represent citizens who think they are not bulletproof, and are headed to court on Monday to try to stop the law from taking effect. While the law officially forbids the state's 300,000 concealed weapon holders from drinking while packing, it doesn't forbid armed patrons from waddling into an establishment already drunk -- or prevent teetotalers from lugging guns for their rowdier spouses.
"It increases the liability of restaurants," Smith says. "Do you put up metal detectors? Do you put up wands?"
Supporters of the law -- including the legislators who swept aside the governor's veto -- argue dozens of states have already made de facto allowances for gun owners to protect themselves in restaurants. What complicates the situation in Tennessee, Smith says, are longstanding laws that require establishments serving hard liquor to derive at least half their sales from food. That means every bar in the state, from east Tennessee's biker dives to the latter-day juke joints of Memphis, is officially a restaurant.
John Egerton, a well-known chronicler of the south, has come out hard against the new law. But the law may well prevail in the Volunteer State, where drinking Jim Beam and carrying on, is -- in the words of Hank Williams Jr. -- an old family tradition.
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7-09-2009 @2:06PM blarg said... So if i was carrying a loaded AR-15, how much should i tip at an Applebees?
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7-09-2009 @2:40PM Gretchen Roberts said... As a TN resident my jaw dropped when I heard they were even considering this in the legislature. Seriously..what do people have to "protect" themselves from in a restaurant? Before, fists maybe? Now, other loaded guns wielded by drunk people!
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7-09-2009 @2:57PM david said... I'm guessing that a low IQ or alcoholism is a requirement for election to a public office in Tennessee.
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7-09-2009 @2:57PM Sean said... In case your steak is a little to rare?
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7-09-2009 @3:04PM sean said... Oops. Change that to to a too.
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7-09-2009 @3:26PM Ras Thavas said... Perhaps some folks are concerned about the possibility of getting caught in another Luby's style massacre while eating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby%27s_massacre
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7-09-2009 @4:02PM Mark Shaw said... Yawn. We have this in Texas, and we don't have any problems with it.
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7-09-2009 @9:09PM Kent said... GREAT ! Support your right to keep and bear arms ! I've always liked Tennessee... Especially K'ville.
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7-09-2009 @9:12PM Kent said... Mark Shaw < And the Dallas police officer that went ballistic over the concealed carry law one year to the day, apologized when his loud mouth overloaded his paper A$$! Now if Texas could just get road rage under control ... I know, I know; It's the heat! NOW SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY WAY!
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7-09-2009 @11:41PM Dale said... According to the law passed in TN, owners can ban legal carry permit holders from bringing their firearms into the establishment by simply posting a sign. Additionally, it will be illegal for a legal carry permit holder to consume alcohol while they are in possession of the weapon in an establishment that allows them to be there.
Do you all really think there are no weapons in bars and restaurants now -- carried in by those who have no regard for the law in the first place? I doubt seriously if you need to be so afraid of the people who go through the complicated legal steps to get certified to carry a concealed handgun over fearing those who just do. Anytime. Anywhere. Who knows, one day one of these legal gun owners will save your sorry butt.
BTW. I don't have a permit. I just use my brain.
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7-10-2009 @11:34AM Sarah said... In my state you can carry with a CPL permit (which requires a state and FBI fingerprint background check) into nearly anywhere. Outside of schools, state and federal buildings that is. And this is exactly how it should be - leaving the right to the citizen.
If a business does not want patrons to carry in their establishment, then they need to post a 'no firearms' sign. It is not a ban, but rather if you were found out you would be asked to leave, and if you didn't then you would be trespassed off the property by police.
As long as one does not sit in a bar or drink in our state all is well.
And as for carrying concealed with a permit, you wouldn't know really. And that is the point of carrying concealed.
As for why? That is a personal decision. Many people take this decision and right very personal after thinking long about it.
Sadly, this article is a typical example of a scare tactic. If the author had done any real research it is very easy to find that the states with a friendly attitude towards lawful gun owners have lower crime rates - you have little to fear from a citizen who has gone through the process to get a CPL. Do you think the CPL holder is going to risk their right to carry by acting unlawfully?
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7-15-2009 @10:30AM Anne said... They passed this law how could they. Our son was killed in Memphis on Beale St. He didn't own a gun but two were at the scene. There was no formal investigation by homicide not even the ME's office. He was only 26. No drugs, no arrest. He wasn't even left handed. I hope and pray that none of their children of people that carry guns are killed. It has been a nightmare for the past 4 years. I will be glad to go to court before this lady judge that allowed the bill to pass. Just tell me where and when and I will show her pictures of my dead son. He was visually impaired and hearing impaired and was not a threat to anyone but he and our family was treated with such disrespect for such a loss as this. Not once did police talk with us when he was shot. It took 1 1/2 years to get the made up reports out. No autopsy was done.
Do you want this to be your child, your husband or your brother? Do you want a free for all? I thought the police were suppose to protect us and uphold the law. What is happening to everything?
All of our rights, our laws and our land is changing before our eyes. Our family values and our respect is going down the tubes. It is not do unto others but do it to others before they do it to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What good is a $2,500 fine if you are dead? What do I know I am just a mom. A mom that is still grieving over her dead son. Don't let it happen to yours. Now it will be legal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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7-16-2009 @4:28AM Mike said... Just be sure to post a "No Coloreds Allowed" sign on the door. Better yet, make that sign read, "Coloreds Cannot Enter With Firearms." Then enjoy your white-only bar.
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8-19-2009 @9:41PM kellie1990 said... All I can say to this is.........yahooooooooooo.
Drinks are on the house you polecat varmints.
If Clint Eastwood could pack a gun in the bar/saloon and do shots of the bar's rot gut booze, everyone should be able to do the same.
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2-12-2010 @10:06PM Michael Seagraves said... what dumbass dont understand the law? an upstanding member of society with a carry permit IS NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK WHILE CARRYING,so their judgement is not impaired and I do beleive it is their right to carry and protect themselves from the CRIMINAL ELEMENT. only an IDIOT pansey ass thinks this right to protect ourselves should be taken away.
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7-01-2010 @6:38PM Joe said... This is a simple case of Have it and Not need it or Need it and Not have It. I for one am happy that Tennessee has passed this. I am a law abiding citizen and carry, I do not drink when I have a weapon in any case what so ever, IT IS ILLEGAL TO DRINK ALCOHOL WHEN ARMED!!!! Criminals DO NOT follow LAWS. If anyone out there thinks that there are no guns in restaurants now, they are FOOLS!!!! They need to pull their heads out of their Butts and get some oxygen to their brains. This is a simple case and same as always of people not doing their research before they comment.
ANNE I am sorry to read about your son, but this isn't a case of what happened to your son. The people who did this were the criminals not law abiding citizens. You said that the police are suppose to protect and serve, but we all know that they can't be every where they need to be. The case is what happens when you have to make a split second decision to use your firearm to defend yourself and the police are minutes away, you end up dead. Now what if there was a armed law abiding citizen where your son was, just maybe he would still be with us. I don't know the whole story about your son and I am not trying to make your loss meaningless to us here. I hope you find peace and thank you for your post. We all need to think about the effects we cause with the actions we take.
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