NASHVILLE – Senators voted 23-9 today to let the state’s handgun-carry permit holders go armed in all establishments selling alcohol, including nightclubs, bars and honky tonks.
The bill, however, says they cannot drink and they can’t carry guns if the establishments post signs banning weapons.
The bill, which remains inside a House committee, 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.
The judge threw out the law because it sought to take into account the vagaries of Tennessee’s liquor-by-the-drink law, which involves the amount of food that must be sold by restaurants.
The new bill does away with such distinctions and allows permit holders to go armed in any establishment with on-premises alcohol consumption unless barred by signs.