Up on the Hill, where some Legislators are convinced that guns belong in our restaurants, bars and venues, end of the session politics is underway. In the House today (Tuesday April 27), the gun bill was deferred until Thursday.
Last week, the House bill was amended to require places that sell less than 50% food to post a sign saying guns could not be brought into the establishment. According to The Tennessean, the amendment was offered by Representative Tindell so legislators could "keep their word from a year ago, when they said they would deliver a bill that would allow guns in restaurants, but not bars." Read the story at The Tennessean.
Problem is, posting a sign that says you sell less than 50% food is a red flag to the Tennessee ABC that the business does not qualify for a liquor license. Contrary to popular belief, there are no bars under the Tennessee liquor laws. Only restaurants. Over the past few months, the ABC has been targeting bars that do not sell enough food, suspending licenses for 90 days. 90 days without liquor is pretty much a death sentence to most bars. Read more at my liquor and beer blog, Last Call.
Legislators seem to ignore two of the simplest improvements to the gun bill. One is to allow businesses to opt in. If a business owners wants to allow guns, the owner can post a sign. Gun carry proponents fear that too few sane business owners would welcome gun carriers into a place that serves alcohol.
The second simple improvement is to fix the opt out sign. Currently, the law requires posting a large wordy sign to ban guns. Everyone is familiar with universal red slash circle signs. The law could easily allow business owners to prohibit guns by posting the universal no gun symbol. But this would be way too easy.
Look for more political games. Chas Sisk of The Tennessean quoted sponsor Rep. Todd today on his politics blog: “There’s always a game plan.” Check back for more as the legislative session wraps up.
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