Guns In Bars Approved By Arizona Lawmakers

PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a business that serves alcohol.

The 19-8 vote completes legislative action on the bill and sends it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a supporter of gun rights.

The measure has pitted powerful groups representing gun and bar owners against each other, sparking a debate about whether guns and alcohol can coexist without bloodshed.

Critics of the measure say guns and alcohol are a dangerous combination.

"We don't let people drink and drive, why should we let them drink and carry guns?" said Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, who voted against the bill.

Supporters say they should be able to protect themselves and their families even if they happen to be inside a business serving alcohol.

"It's very important that criminals are now afraid rather than law abiding citizens," said Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, the bill's sponsor.

The measure would ban drinking while packing and allow restaurants to deny entry to gun-toting citizens by posting a sign next to their liquor license.

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The bill initially required that a bar serving alcohol also serve food, but that provision was removed at the request of bar owners who worried about uncertainty over which bars have kitchens.

Forty other states have approved similar measures, according to the National Rifle Association.

In Tennessee, restaurant owners and others filed a lawsuit Wednesday over a similar law that goes into effect July 14, saying it "encourages breaches of peace and unlawful vigilantism."

Randy Rayburn, owner of several Nashville restaurants and a plaintiff, said the measure is an "antibusiness law" that not only jeopardizes public safety, but increases employer liability and hurts tourism and hospitality businesses.

"The Legislature did not understand the unintended consequences of their actions," Rayburn said.

Former Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, vetoed a similar bill earlier this decade that would not have required people to have concealed weapons permits in order to carry guns in bars.

More than 127,000 Arizonans have concealed weapons permits, which require a gun safety course and background check, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

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Associated Press Writer Lucas L. Johnson II from Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Arizona Legislature: http://www.azleg.gov

National Rifle Association: http://www.nra.com

Comments

[AGarcia]

Arizona is officially Hicksville, U.S.A.

No wonder the housing market there is tanking worse than anywhere else in the country!

[BlackJAC]

Jules Asner seems to be the only positive contribution to Civilization that Arizona has made.

[AZdesertdog]

yep, that must be it...housing market is down here for the past two years because of a law that passed this week.

...and to interject facts again; the worst states for foreclosures are Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona. of those five states, Ohio is the only one that doesn't allow guns in bars.

what was that correllation again???

[sfwolf]

You need to read a little. Phoenix is certainly hurting, but most other cities (Tucson, Scottsdale, Flagstaff) have not had nearly as much drop in housing values.

AZ has its challenges, primarily due to a state legislature that is dominated by the Republicans still hung up on social agendas. State employees' same sex couple benefits have been removed, abortion rights curtailed, etc. However, more and more Democrats have been registered here to the extent that there are more Democrats than Republicans now. Change is coming to AZ, kicking and screaming.

AZ does have cutting edge research on astrophysics, astronomy (Kitt Peak and Lowell observatories). UofA and ASU were lead organizations in recent spaceflights. Plus we have killer sunsets and you can have a margarita on your patio at 10 pm in 85 degree weather.

[KarlaElisa]

perhaps they can designate sections of the pub like you would do for smoking and non smoking.....

[Grunty1]

I'm sure the stray bullets will respect the invisible boundary, just like the smoke does.

[poco767c]

See Plaxico Burris.

[Cookie100]

wow- What a great idea, guns and liquor! Throw testosterone in there and you have a great cocktail!

Remind me, never go into a abr in Arizona, no one will come out alive! The red states hasve got to succeed now!

We don't want you. Arizona take Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, well, you get the drift. They're all welfare states. They receive more in federal dollars than they pay in.

If we could get them to leave, we'd be way ahead, and could get rid of trolls like Lindsey Graham, Sessions, Shelby, etc. Oh and how about the creeps from Texas, they're the worst!

The United '40 states that manage to get along' of America!!

[NoblesseOblige]

You left out Inhofe and Coburn from Oklahoma. They're the worst!

[Cookie100]

I stand correctly corrected! Inhofe is THE WORST

[RofWH]

You left out McCain. How soon we forget.

[NoOneSpecial]

You know these gun nuts are so sad.

Their paranoid claims about protecting their "personal safety" always ignore larger "public safety" issues.

[BlackJAC]

Agreed. What kind of urban war zone do you have to grow up in to develop the mindset that you need a legislature to give you permission to pack heat in even the most benign of settings? Granted, after reading KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL and watching both the TV show based on it and anything with Gordon Ramsey, I'd probably want to pack heat in a restaurant kitchen, but how is this anything other than feel-good legislation?

[BlackJAC]

I thought gops were against feel-good legislation.

[Nonpartay]

This is nuts. Are they trying to put Americans into pitched battles? Why have a weapon at all? I've gone my whole life without one and have never felt I needed one. So much paranoia in this country. We're made to feel so afraid of each other some feel the need to have a gun to protect themselves. One wonders if this is a brainwashing campaign by the gun companies. What a racket.

[joe is in the room]

Arizona, the Southwest's Mississippi.

[1will]

Concealed Carry Permit holders are the most law abiding demographic in America. Statisticaly they are more law abiding than police officers. This group is not going to pile into bars in order to drink and carry. What they do want is to be able to carry while enjoying a dinner in a restaurant that serves alcohol. There is no reason to disarm just because the local Applebee's or pizza place serves beer along with their food.
This proposed law does not allow drunkeness for those that are carrying firearms. Those carrying will still be held accountable for their actions and are not allowed to be intoxicated while armed. The restaurants (why do you guys always say bars?) will be allowed to ban CCW holders if they wish.
Those that obey the law will continue to do so. Those that break the law currently will continue to do so. Nothing will change. Adding a law abiding concealed carry permit holder to a restaurant will not cause death, destruction and mayhem.
There was a lot of hysteria when Concealed Carry Laws passed nationwide years ago. It all turned out to be useless paranoia. The current fear mongering is no different.
The law may stop another Luby's from occuring though.

[BlackJAC]

And yet the people who brag about having them might as well wear bulls-eyes on their backs because bragging about it kinda defeats the entire rationale behind it. The technical term for this is "aggressive passivity," more colloquially known as "impotent bluster."

[canfemlib]

If you're carrying a gun, then you have to be willing to kill someone.

[1will]

And your point is? I'd prefer to say that if you are carrying a gun you have to be willing to use deadly force to defend yourself or others if the situation justifies such force.
That is the whole point of carrying a weapon.

[Mahi Joe]

Why even conceal the weapons? Why not just wear a holster with a gun in it so at least people can avoid being around those who feel they have to play cowboys. Be open about carrying a gun.

[OdinsEye]

Because carrying concealed means the criminals don't know who is armed. Carrying openly gives them a clue who to avoid.

[joecoolconservative]

Yes you can for the most part carry open in Colorado (except for Denver). However, you give up a tactical advantage because the bad guys know you are armed. Better to surprise them when they try their criminal activities.

[Ghugly]

Well said.

If I go into a McDonald's and have a cheeseburger and a Coke, all is right with the world. But, if I go into the local pizza joint for a slice of pizza and a Coke it means the end of everything? I don't get it.

But then, I live in California, and I have a CCW, and I can, and do, carry in both of those places legally. I suppose Arizonans are not to be trusted with Pizza?

[GLT21]

I have a gun. I love to drink.

I'm not $ tupip to carry one while doing the other. I lock it from myself.

The Arizona GOPers, I don't know. Thier not all there.

[BlackJAC]

THE DAILY SHOW did a piece on a similar bill regarding guns in bars. The gop sponsoring it was a former golf pro who believed his ability to interpret PGA rules made him an expert in law. The Democrat opposing it was a gun-owning former Marine. Although the bill passed, it was struck down by the state supreme court on the grounds that it conflicted with existing laws regarding home invasion.

[StillweRise]

Guns and alcohol.... brilliant

[poco767c]

Social Darwinism will work it's magic.

[cordyc]

Just what I was thinking.

[ls1z28chris]

Georgia has allowed people who hold firearms licenses to carry concealed weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol for about a year. In spite of the fact that these weapons are allowed, the law that prohibits the consumption of alcohol while carrying a concealed weapon still stands. These types of law keep people from becoming felons for simply carrying a weapon into a Chili's or Ruby Tuesday.

In the year since the Georgia law changed, there have been no incidents of "gunfights at the OK corral." It simply doesn't happen. When I go out with friends and we expect to drink, everyone but the designated driver leaves their weapons at home.

When states start changing laws to say that you can carry a weapon while drunk, then it would be time for you silly liberals to panic. Until then, stop screaming about WMDs and mixing guns and alcohol. Try to focus your attention on reality.

[NoOneSpecial]

The AZ law specifically allows for carrying concealed weapons into bars that do not serve food.

Chili's or Ruby Tuesday is one thing. You can go there with only the intent to eat.

Please explain why anyone would go to a bar with no intent to drink, but instead to just sit around with a gun tucked inside their jacket.

[OdinsEye]

"Please explain why anyone would go to a bar with no intent to drink, but instead to just sit around with a gun tucked inside their jacket."

Designated driver.

[BlackJAC]

Said the political wing that insists that gay marriage will somehow result in people marrying farm animals. Still doesn't change the fact that it's simply feel-good legislation.

[LeLoup]

I wasn't aware that alcohol was allowed while voting on a bill in Arizona.

[whatthel]

Guns and alcohol. Gee, what could go wrong there?