Senators approve guns-in-bars bill

NASHVILLE -- Senators stuck by their guns Thursday, voting 23-9 to let state handgun-carry permit holders go armed in all establishments selling alcohol for on-premises consumption, a list that includes nightclubs, bars and honky tonks.

Other provisions mandate that permit holders cannot drink and also say business owners can post specified signs prohibiting guns, which permit holders are to obey.

The bill is intended to nullify a Davidson County judge's ruling last year. The judge tossed out a similar 2009 law saying it was unconstitutionally vague and permit holders wouldn't know whether restaurants were meeting state liquor-by-the-drink requirements or not.

State liquor-by-the-drink laws don't recognize bars and nightclubs. The state awards licenses based on food sales, a provision widely ignored. Senate sponsor Doug Jackson's version is a new bill wiping out the vagaries of food-sales considerations with regard to where permit holders can go.

"When we try to set up these artificial barriers -- 'Well, you have the right to carry, but you can't carry here and you can't carry there without good demonstrated reasons' -- what we do is make it impractical for that person to exercise that right and have the means to defend themselves," Sen. Jackson said during debate.

Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, disagreed with the bill's reach, saying, "I don't think it's a good bill. You don't go to a bar but for one reason -- and that's to drink."

Senators' action appears headed toward a showdown next Wednesday when the House considers its own version.

The House bill carries an amendment sponsored by Rep. Harry Tindell, D-Knoxville. It says that if an establishment's food sales are less than 50 percent, the owners are required to post signs banning guns from their premises.

Businesses with food sales above 50 percent can choose whether to post the signs or not, Rep. Tindell said. It was adopted by the House Finance Committee on a bipartisan vote last week, with some Republican lawmakers openly voicing relief over the solution.

Sen. Jackson, however, told reporters later he doesn't like the Finance Committee version and decided to push ahead with the original bill.

Calling it an "almost last-minute amendment," Sen. Jackson said he doesn't think the Tindell amendment "was well-contemplated or thought out. There's mechanical issues of implementation that I think are problematic."

During debate, Sen. Jackson sought to brush aside assertions by critics that the state's guns-in-bars bill is unique among states, saying, "we're not plowing new ground." But lawyers who sued on behalf of restaurants to block last year's bill said most states don't have the reach that Sen. Jackson's bill envisions.

As passed, the bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and fines of up to $2,500 for permit holders to consume any alcohol while carrying their weapons.

ROLL CALLHere is how Chattanooga area senators voted:Republicans voting yes:Dewayne Bunch, ClevelandJim Tracy, ShelbyvilleBo Watson, HixsonDoug Overbey, MaryvilleDemocrats voting no:Andy Berke, ChattanoogaEric Stewart, Belvidere

Another amendment added says that permit holders, if found to be intoxicated, would be stripped of their permits for three years.

Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, argued the amendments would impose additional costs on the state. Because of that, he said, the bill should be referred back to the Finance Committee.

His motion was tabled on a voice vote.

He wound up voting against the bill.

Last year's bill was opposed by restaurants, chiefs of police, some sheriffs and prosecutors. Gov. Phil Bredesen vetoed the measure, calling it dangerous, but gun-rights proponents easily overrode him.

This year, most have said nothing.

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