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Tennesee Restaurant Firearms Carry - Active

Tennesee Restaurant Firearms Carry - Active', 'Today is July 15, 2009. Recently, Rep. Curry Todd R-Collierville District 95 — Part of Shelby County, put a bill into legislation, HB0962, that would allow HCP holders to carry their concealed handgun into a restaurant that servers alcoholic beverages. To give you a brief history of the bill it was amended several times, and then finally sent to the desk of Gov. Phil Bredesen for a signature. At which point the bill was vetoed.
"Let me be very clear: I am a strong supporter of the right to keep and bear arms. I am, and have always been, committed to preserving the rights of the Second Amendment: basic American rights. These rights are protected by the United States Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution as well," Bredesen said.

He continued

"However, these rights, for more than two centuries, have come with reasonable and necessary rules and guidelines. This bill crosses the line of reason. I have been a gun owner for over 50 years. When I was a young man, I took my first gun safety class – sponsored by the NRA – at my high school. There was one message conveyed during that class that has been imprinted on me since, and it was this: guns and alcohol don’t mix. That’s as true today as it was then.

"It is because of this principle that Tennessee state law has long prohibited the possession of firearms in places that serve alcohol. House Bill 962 would remove this safeguard in a manner that I, as well as many law enforcement officers, believe would be reckless and lacking safeguards to ensure public safety.

"A key role of government is to ensure public safety. To do that government must strike a balance between the rights afforded to us by the Constitution and common-sense rules that must be applied to the exercise of these rights. I believe we can exercise our second amendment rights and common sense at the same time – and guns and bars simply don\'t mix.

"Because of this, I am vetoing this bill and respectfully asking the legislature to rethink this issue."

But thankfully. the veto was not successful the bill went back to committee and the veto was overridden. What I dont understand is this portion of the comment. "However, these rights, for more than two centuries, have come with reasonable and necessary rules and guidelines" What part of "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms shall not be infringed" does this man not understand. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED means just that, no limitations.

Of course this bill has been fought tooth and nail from the beginning. Being called a "Guns in Bars" bill, it created uproar from the anti-gun community that said "guns and alcohol don’t mix". While they are correct that guns an alcohol don’t mix, that is not the purpose of the bill. They forget the major underlying law here; it is against the law to consume alcohol while in possession of a firearm. This bill was designed to give Handgun Carry Permit holders the ability to go out to a nice place for dinner with their family and still allow them to be protected and to protect their family. They are still, by law, not allowed to consume alcohol while carrying their firearm; it just allows them to sit in a place that serves alcohol with their firearm.

If a predator was to attack it would not be at the car or at the restaurant it would be on the way to or from one of the other. Not to mention that leaving a firearm in a car while going into a restaurant can be a risky and possibly expensive action.

But to continue, this new law went into effect yesterday. July 14, 2009. Many restaurants have posted the obligatory no guns allowed sign. This action whether they realize it or not could be detrimental to their business. Many of the HCP holders have stated whether the sign is accurately post or not, if it is posted that eatery will loose their patronage. There are databases and blogs popping up all over the internet gun communities stating which restaurants have posted signs, in other words which restaurants to avoid. As a member of the HCP holders I believe that I will head their warnings and I believe that many other Second Amendment supporters will as well. For those nationwide restaurant chains that decide all restaurants will have signs restricting the carry of firearms, I will be relaying that information as much as possible.

Jul 7, 2009

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