Restaurant Carry
Local Restaurateur Mike Chase chats with Betty Bean about the guns in restaurants bill. Mr. Chase owns a few of the prominent local chains, most of which are OK but Calhoun’s has some good beer that they brew themselves. I like their Porter. Says Chase:
Water goes with scotch. Coke goes with Jack Daniels – but guns and alcohol just don’t mix
Water never goes into Scotch.
And guns and alcohol do not mix, which is why the bill in question and Tennessee law in general prohibit drinking while being armed. But facts aren’t at issue here, I suppose. That’s why the debate is usually framed as guns in bars because if we framed it honestly as, say, the guns at Pizza Hut bill or I don’t want to leave a gun in the car when I hit the Ruby Tuesday’s salad bar at lunch bill then that doesn’t really get the emotional reaction you’re going for here. And we can’t have that.
Last night, I stopped off at a local eatery to grab some food to take home. I didn’t know if the place served alcohol or not. So, I had to decide whether to leave my gun in the car or take it with me. Looking at a coin flip, I erred on the side of not leaving the weapon in the car. Went in, picked up my food, and still don’t know if I broke the law or not. I didn’t see alcohol advertised there. But it could have been on the menu. That’s how the debate of this bill should be framed.
Chase continues:
It’ll be worse than the Wild West – back then, they wore their guns on their hips where you could see them. Wyatt Earp made them take off their guns when they went into bars. This is ridiculous. Crazy. There are a million scenarios where this could be a disaster – jealous boyfriends, jealous girlfriends, jealous spouses. It’s a bad, bad idea, and whoever is pushing it is absolutely irresponsible. I am always going to oppose anything that will endanger my customers and employees.
Starts off with Ravenwood’s Law. But those scenarios play out with almost the frequency of winning lotteries. And they would also be illegal. You see, all of Tennessee’s neighbor states, except North Carolina, allow handgun carry in places that serve alcohol. And they don’t experience any sort of substantive increase in deadly situations. And you’re in luck, Mr. Chase, since even if the law passes, you, as a property owner, can still prohibit the carrying of arms at your establishment.
Via Linoge who has a lot more.
Update: More here.
Update 2: Will he ban cars in his parking lot?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Here in the Gunshine state, I can have a beer and a boomstick strapped to my hip (hidden, away from the sight of the sheep). I can’t be drunk and have a gun any more than I can be drunk and drive a car. But we don’t forbid cars in the parking lots of restaurants that serve booze even though today alone more people will die from auto and alcohol related accidents than all month with guns (alcohol not required).
We don’t have a problem with shootouts in bars. Nor at playgrounds. Nor at soccer games or churches or public gatherings, or any other place the gun fearing assure us that allowing guns in will cause mayhem.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:01 am
And you don’t put coke in Uncle Jack either unless you want a f–king hangover.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Every time there is a proposal to relax some firearm law someone brings up the “Wild West”. Funny that every time someone brings that up we can point to a state somewhere in the country that has that exact law and blood isn’t running in the streets.
March 24th, 2009 at 11:23 am
His arguement holds no water (or scotch.) Even here in capital “L” liberal Oregon we’re permitted to carry concealed in restaurants and bars. Been that way for decades and somehow we’ve managed not to kill each other off in drives…
What nonsense…
March 24th, 2009 at 11:24 am
^^^ “droves”… not “drives”…
March 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
retro, the “L” is even bigger here in Mass. No legal issues here with bar/restaurant carry. Heck you can even have a drink legally here so long as you never cross the line into “Legally drunk”.
Usally I just avoid the sauce when packing (cheaper to drink at home anyway) but occationally I’ll have a beer with my dinner.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
This guy’s stunning lack of knowledge about either alcohol or firearms leads me to believe that he partakes in neither one and is therefore a worthless source to quote.
He probably works for the ATF:
“Don’t Smoke? Don’t Drink? Hate guns? Think the whole constitution is obsolete? Join the ATF!!!”
March 24th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
And, to make matters worse, Mike Chase either is, or was in the recent past, a Commissioner on the Tn Wildlife Resources Agency.
Does anyone actually read the law anymore?
I don’t drink, and I want to be able to protect myself when I enter, dine in, and exit restaurants which serve alcohol.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
You know people never bring up the fact that the Wild West had a crime rate lower then that of many American cities.
Yeah, I’ll take Dodge City over Detroit any day.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Georgia got a similar law passed last year in July and the Georgia Reastaurant Association was against it. Ours was tied to the legal definition of bars (51% or more revenue from alcohol is a bar and licensed as one) and no drinking while carrying.
They liked to say stuff like, will a waitress have to ask if someone is armed before serving them alcohol?
We also got the “gun in bars” line even though the law specifically said you still could not carry (in what the law defined as) bars.
We have yet to have one Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesday’s, etc gunfight by a license holder.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
A few drops of spring water in single malt scotch often helps to release the full flavor.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Oh shit. Is this going to devolve into another “guns and how to make a proper martini” argument?
VERMOUTH WILL RUN IN THE STREETS!!!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
That is exactly what I do not get… this guy could have just posted his restaurants appropriately, and there would have been a mess about that, but probably not nearly as large as this mess. But going on a hoplophobic campaign to limit carrying in all restaurants, just because you do not want it in yours? Yeah, that is just plain silly.
Alienating your customer base seems like a rather dunce-ish move, these days.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
any bets on whether he carries when he deposits his receipts?
March 24th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Texas has its 51% rule, in that, if an establishment earns %51 of its income (or more) from alcohol sales, it is legally a “bar” and thus a CHL cannot enter without violating the law. But just a restaurant that serves alcohol? No hay problema. I always carry in our local restaurants & cafes, and none of my fellow diners is ever the wiser (though they are unknowingly also safer because of my presence).
March 24th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Mike Chase wants to ban guns in his restaurants, he just doesn’t want his customers to hold him accountable for it. He’d rather the government ban them for him. He’s afraid that if he puts up signs banning handgun carry in his restaurants he will lose business. And he will!
March 24th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
So do I have to audit the books of the waterholes? Is that 50% of total sales? What about a microbrewery with a lot of off premises sales? What about a fine dining restaurant where a glass of wine is over $25?
Riddle me this- is it even possible to legally own a weapon yet not qualify for CHL? If not, we don’t have gun owner cards, why CHL? If ignorance of the law is no defense, why do we have to sit through a stupid class? Why do lawyers have to pass an exam if they know the law when it’s assumed everyone does?
March 25th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
A few drops of water in cask strength scotch both releases the flavor and makes it much more palatable.