Guns in Bars

Is Bringing Your Gun to a Bar a Good Idea? How’s that for a Loaded Question?

The Arizona legislature seems to be fast-tracking a new bill to allow patrons of bars to bring their weapons into those establishments.  The Govenor, Jan Brewer, still has to give it her okay before it becomes law.   LINK   Who in their right mind thinks that mixing alcohol and marksmanship is EVER a good idea?

This is part of a movement set into motion by the NRA which also encourages churches to permit their congregation to bring their firearms to Sunday Service.  What’s next?  Allow childcare workers to tote guns to work, in case of trouble?

What ever happened to the Wild West addage, “Check your guns at the door”?  The dopes over at the National Rifle Association (NRA) didn’t bother to ask restaurant and bar owners what THEY thought about guns in their establishments before lawmakers were pressured into passing this same dumb law in Tennessee recently.  It has resulted in (previously unnecessary) signage like the one below:

Of the roughly 218,000 handgun permit holders in Tennessee, 278 had their permits revoked last year, records show. Since 2005, state records shows nearly 1,200 people have lost their permits. (that’s a LOT of folks who posed a distinctly dangerous hazard to others – drinking or not!)  Link  The Govenor of Tennessee, Phil Bredesen, vetoed the bill.  He said, “”I still think that guns in bars is a very bad idea. It’s an invitation to a disaster.” The veto was overturned by the state lawmakers. 

A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday seeking a temporary or permanent injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on July 14.  LINK    One reason the lawsuit gives for stopping the law is that it’s an “unlawful public nuisance that unreasonably threatens the life, health and safety of the public.”  

“Normally, if a court finds out that there are guns in bars, or there are shootings in bars, they shut the bar down,” said David Smith, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “And that’s a legal precedent that we’re relying upon.”

Sometimes a lawsuit is the only protection against stupid people passing even more stupid laws.

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