Mixing guns, alcohol is a bad idea

[jpak]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/03/31/1082762?sac=Home

Guns and alcohol shouldn't mingle.

Many violent, dumb things can result when those two hang out.

Yet, the state House has passed a bill that allows private citizens to carry concealed guns into restaurants where alcohol is served. If the bill, HB 111, passes the Senate and lands on the desk of Gov. Bev Perdue, I'm assuming she'll have the common sense to veto.

She also maybe should listen to people who own restaurants.

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[GreenStormCloud]

1. It is possible to be in a restaurant and not drink. I do it frequently.

My wife and I are teetotallers. Not of religious conviction, but because we just don't drink. We sometimes go to nice romantic (Yes, in our 60's romance is still alive.) places that have a wine list. We eat but don't drink, and I and she both carry concealed. Texas law has allowed that since 1995 and it hasn't posed a problem. You are going to break that string of pearls by clutching them so much. You will sprain your wrists with all that needless handwringing.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

2. Still illegal to get drunk and carry a gun. Nothing will change.

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Not a problem in Washington State.

Nor is it license to drink while carrying. That is still a crime.

There's been no massive call from restaurant owners in WA to ban firearms. The only place we ban firearms WRT alcohol is from the portion of any establishment licensed to serve hard alcohol, with '21 and over only' signs.

In a restaurant in WA, I can eat in the 'normal' portion of the eatery, without entering the isolated 21-over-only area of the bar.

It's perfectly fine.

[petronius]

4. Wish I'd known that last night - I tried mixing a gun with my daiquiris,

and completely destroyed the blender... :(


On topic, the guy quoted against it seems to miss the point:

He believes that people who take the time to get concealed weapons permits won't be the problem.

"It's the knucklehead who has had too much too drink," Collins says. "He does something stupid. Now you're putting the guy with concealed-carry in a position of a moral dilemma. He's gotta make a decision: Is his life being threatened?"

Isn't it the whole point of allowing CCW to provide the tools for when that "life threatened?" answer is yes? Why should a restaurant be any different, if the CCW-holder isn't the one causing the problem?

And the stray-bullets canard got offered up with a new and interesting twist:

"My 71-year-old grandmother has a concealed-carry permit," he says. "Do you want my 71-year-old grandmother emptying her Glock inside of your restaurant? ..."

Me thinks Mr. Collins may be en route to a grandma-administered whupping... :rofl:

[YllwFvr]

5. Ive carried to the bar

but I dont drink, Im the DD. Totally legal here. I wont tell people they CANT go out and drink. Ill tell them its not smart. If you want to carry and drink, at least do it at home.

[rl6214]

6. In Texas you can carry in a restaurant that gets less than 51%

of it's sales from alcohol. There has never been a problem here.

[RamboLiberal]

7. Cars & drinks don't mix

Gee real dumb thing to allow people to drive their car to a restaurant where they might drink.

It's called personal responsibility. A lot of us will not endanger either our driver's license or our right to carry by drinking irresponsibly.

And for those who do there are laws in both cases.

In my state of PA we're allowed to carry in to a bar. And even drink. There hasn't been blood running on the floors from those legally carrying.

[Atypical Liberal]

8. This law does not permit carrying firearms while drinking.

Guns and alcohol shouldn't mingle.

The purpose of this law is not so that people who carry firearms can drink.

The purpose of this law is so that people who carry firearms can go into restaurants that happen to serve alcohol without leaving their firearm unattended in their vehicle.

If I can walk around outside the restaurant with a concealed weapon, there is no reason why I can't eat dinner carrying a a concealed weapon. The fact that they sell alcohol at the restaurant is irrelevant.

[ileus]

15. None of them do....it's gun hyperbole bait, nothing to see here

[pipoman]

9. Yet you post no opposition to people being allowed to DRIVE to a bar

truth is really stranger than fiction...

[armueller2001]

10. Let me guess the reply to your logical rebuttal

"Stupid GOP/NRA republics

yup"

So much intelligence on display...

[Yavapai]

18. Most bars have parking lots!

A restaurant that serves liquor in our tiny town has put up a sign that says "no firearms allowed" sign just inside it's door. Outside, there is a huge 16 foot by 8 foot sign the states in capitol letters "HUNTERS WELCOME". I informed them that I will not be back until they allow patrons to carry (I don't drink alcohol when dining out.)

I notice now that the restaurant (that also serves liquor) across the street is packed, while their parking lot only has one or two cars in it on a Friday evening. I guess others here have told them the same thing by not patronizing them either. I wonder if they will survive next winter, when the tourist trade stops.

[ManiacJoe]

11. This is not a problem in the rest of the country.

Is there something special about folks from NC that we need to be worried about?

[Taitertots]

12. Still illegal to drink and carry

And all the states that allow CCW in places that serve alcohol have had no problems with it.

Do you ever grow tired of pushing for laws that protect no one, punish the law abiding, and have no evidence to support their efficiency?

[benEzra]

13. This change isn't about mixing guns and alcohol, and you know it.

As it stands now, if I am legally carrying here in NC, I have to ascertain from the outside of the restaurant if they have a wine list (without setting foot inside) before I can enter, even though I don't drink in restaurants and have no plans to do so. And if they do have a wine list, I would have to draw the gun in the parking lot to secure it in the car, which is a public invitation to theft and is potentially alarming to bystanders who are uncomfortable with firearms.

Almost all blue states allow those licensed to carry firearms to carry them in restaurants that serve alcohol. Only seven states don't; three of those (NC, SC, LA) are Southern "Bible Belt" states in which anti-alcohol fundies have managed to retain a few vestiges of alcohol prohibition, and a fourth (OH) could probably be put into that category as well.



Pretending this is about mixing drinking with gun carrying may make a good sound bite, but it doesn't help your case, IMO.

She also maybe should listen to people who own restaurants.

"People who own restaurants" can post a "no guns allowed" sign in their restaurants if they consider restaurant carry to be a problem, and in NC such signs have the force of law.

[ileus]

14. Not a problem in WV or VA...or any other state

[Callisto32]

16. You've got absolutely nothing.

Ever.

You are a troll, plain and simple.

Yup.

Yup.

Yup.

Goodbye, jpak.

[spin]

17. In Florida you can carry in the restaurant portion of an establishment ...

but not the bar.

No problem here. The sky is not falling.

[gravity556]

19. In AZ the news was absolutely a-flutter with "GUNS IN BARS!"

hysteria. If you have a permit, you can carry into an establishment that serves alcohol, however, you cannot drink. You cannot carry, permit or no, if they have a "No Guns" sign, thereby making places that serve food and booze and don't mind alienating customers happy. The "blood in the streets" and "it'll be the wild west!" faction raised hell about it, of course. The news loved it because they could put up their fancy graphic with the smoking pistol next to the shot glasses, and hey, lets face it, panic and terror sells papers.

Of course, not once have the "blood on the streets" crowd been right, but it sure doesn't stop them from being loud. Nor does it stop them from spinning it to help them score emotional points.

[David West]

20. I've never drank in my life...

...and I carry a gun into restaurants that serve alcohol all the time. I even carry in bars.

[DissedByBush]

21. They did "listen to people who own restaurants"

Many owners want to allow their patrons to carry, which is currently illegal just because they serve alcohol.

Businesses can still prohibit carrying, nothing changes for them.

[DWC]

22. Master of understatement

This applies to any individual, anywhere, who is in a state of diminished capacity for any reason. Boats, cars, airplanes, knives, axes, gun, baseball bats,... the list goes on and on. Possession of these items is our right. Competent, safe use of these items is our responsibility.

It is simple.

Individual rights.

Individual responsibility.

Semper Fi,