Guns, guns and more guns. In Wisconsin open carry advocates are encouraging gun nuts to publically flash their weapons on their bodies in a show of force and arrogance. It's happening everywhere now, and gun laws to allow firearms in workplace parking lots and bars/restaurants is the hot issue passing out of state legislatures. Here's one such state, Tennessee:
WREG TV: "Lawmakers over-rode the governor's veto, making this the 37th state to allow guns into businesses that serve alcohol. Governor Phil Bredesen says the law doesn't provide the proper safeguards to ensure public safety. Some gun owners can't wait to arm themselves, but are already facing roadblocks. Businesses can still ban guns, simply by putting up a sign."
State citizens are mystified by the push to bring together alcohol and guns in barroom settings. Taverns are already problematic areas even without firearms. The question is, would you want a not so cool, calm and collected guy like Robert Hough packin' heat?
"Date night for Robert Hough and his wife nearly ended with a sign outside Bosco's Restaurant in Midtown. The sign was a gun with a red cross through the middle; a clear sign guns weren't welcome. As a gun owner, the sign made Hough bristle. "It's my right as a Tennessean to carry a firearm into this restaurant, but now I can't because he's blocking it. It's his right to say I can't, and it's my right to say I don't have to come back."
Okay, calm down and try to relax Mr. Hough. We don't want to cause any trouble that might end in a fatal shooting. Bar and restaurant owners are less enthused.
"Gun owners say the law will keep them safe, but Boscos owner Jerry Feinstone calls it something else: fear-baiting. "Stepping into a situation where they expect trouble -- expecting trouble and creating trouble tend to go hand in hand," says Feinstone, who thinks folks walking into a bar cocked and loaded isn't the answer. Feinstone wants his customers to feel safe, but for the former college rifleman, the answer is simple -- his restaurant is no place for guns."
"Responsible people, when they've had a few drinks, can become irresponsible. That's the part of this that concerns me a little bit," says Sheriff Mark Luttrell who was among several top cops who say they're not much they can do to enforce the new law. Lutrell says it's up to restaurants and bars to regulate who comes in armed."
The biggest law enforcement concern right now is how do you keep someone with a gun from drinking?
What, you can't drink and carry a gun? You want to make something of it...?
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