40 days and 40 nights
R. Neal ponders why the 40 day wait for guns in restaurants. No, not biblical or due to Bastille Day. It’s in the constitution.
The style of the laws of this state shall be, “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee.” No law of a general nature shall take effect until forty days after its passage unless the same or the caption thereof shall state that the public welfare requires that it should take effect sooner.
Oddly, the bill stipulates June 1 and it is captioned that the public welfare requires it. But I suppose the veto complicated that. Anyway, I think one would have a defense from prosecution but I’d err on the side of not going to jail. So, I’d wait the 40 days if I were you.
ETA: But it does give business owners who choose to do so ample time to put up signs to prohibit carrying that comply with Tennessee law.
June 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Pretty common, and it could be worse. Nebraska passed some welcome improvements to our carry law, and our constitution says the wait is 90 days after the legislative session ends.
At least they packed it in a couple days early.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
And you just answered my question from two seconds ago. Oh well.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Duh, it’s my mom’s birthday!
June 4th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
“But it does give business owners who choose to do so ample time to put up signs to prohibit carrying that comply with Tennessee law.”
Are businesses allowed to restrict or deny the exercise of other rights enumerated in the State Constitution by their patrons or customers? Does this State law discriminate as to which right(s) may be denied and then penalize the one exercising said right?
For example,what if a restaurant owner didn’t like the editorial policy of a certain newspaper. Could the owner deny service to employees and particularly columnists and editors of that newspaper because they didn’t agree with the exercise of their First Amendment rights–and have the State enforce that?
June 4th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
‘Are businesses allowed to restrict or deny the exercise of other rights enumerated in the State Constitution by their patrons or customers?’
Uh, yes.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:11 am
So, I’m still unclear on why the 40 day wait. It would seem the bill cleared all the legal hurdles prescribed by the Constitution (date certain for effect, “public welfare” requiring it), yet I can’t find any reason for the loophole to delay it until Bastille Day.
Not that anything that happens in Nashville is required to make any sense.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:26 am
When our state constitutions were written, 40 days was just about time enough to get the word spread to all the small towns at the far ends of the state, thus setting a common “start date” for all of the state. Also, if a law or rule change requires a change in procedure, this gives everyone time enough to get ready for the change. In this case, it provides time for those businesses so inclined to get the proper “no guns” sign posted per the provisions of the law.
June 6th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Our chief legal guy tells me that if legislation becomes law AFTER the enacting date included in the legislation, it is as if there was no enacting date in the legislation. In this case, the enacting date of the legislation said June 1, but it became law the moment the Senate voted to override, June 4. Further… our Constitution states that any law takes effect 40 days after passage unless otherwise stated. In this case, because it was past the enacting date, it was if there was no enacting date… making it fall under the Constitution’s 40 day rule… making it July 14.
Not sure if I complicated it more or not… but that’s the basic idea.