Guns in Restaurants Headed to Governor Bredesen

A new state law that allows handguns to be carried inside restaurants that sell liquor is now headed to the governor’s desk.

Both the House and Senate have now adopted the conference committee version of the “guns in restaurants” bill. Senate sponsor Doug Jackson says permitted gun-carriers don’t cause many problems and shouldn’t have to leave weapons at home. He says few are ever charged with crimes that would revoke their permits.

“There were 278 revocations last year, and we have 220,000 handgun permit holders, and I think the math will show that is about twelve ten-thousandths of one percent.”

The House version of the bill included an 11 p.m. curfew and age restrictions for those allowed in restaurants with weapons. Jackson’s more permissive bill ultimately won-out in the conference committee.

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Handgun carry permits can be revoked if a person is merely charged with a felony. They can also be suspended, Jackson noted.

“The law also provides that the permits be suspended if you are convicted of a class A misdemeanor or you are in arrears on child support, or you are under an order of protection. There were approximately 360 suspensions last year. That constitutes sixteen ten-thousandths of one percent.”

The “guns in restaurants that serve alcohol” bill is HB 962 Todd/SB 1127 Jackson

The State House of Representatives had earlier tried to limit the carrying of handguns were liquor is sold to restaurants that close by 11 p.m. That and an age-restriction was shot down by a conference committee that reported out the more permissive bill as passed by the Senate. The Senate today reaffirmed the bill in the same form that it passed it on April 16. Originally it had passed 26-7.

The House last week adopted the same conference committee report, 66-23.

Memphis Senator Jim Kyle commented that Jackson could only have gotten the revocation-suspension figures because gun permit records are currently public records. Later a reporter questioned Jackson about the same issue – whether another bill to close those records to the public should be pursued. Jackson suggested some “middle ground” between wide-open records and complete secrecy. Perhaps the records of those permit holders whose permits were revoked or suspended should be released, he suggested.

Well that bill hasn’t passed the Senate yet. It may or may not pass, in some form or fashion.
You know, maybe there is a middle ground to be examined here. But for newspapers to just, en masse, to take handgun carry permit holders and put them in the front of newspapers, is irresponsible on the part of the media.
And they are the direct cause of what we’re facing today.

The secret-gun-permits bill is HB 959 Bass/SB 1126 Norris

It has passed in the House (83-12 on May 4) and is ready to go to the Senate floor. Jackson was one of the six “aye” votes on that bill when it was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/BillVotesArchive.aspx?ChamberVoting=S&BillNumber=SB1126&ga=106

Jackson also said that in addition to the 220,000 current permit holders, another 120,000 may be added this year. He said he is calculating from permit applications in the first three months of the year.

That came from the Department of Safety. And that’s based on the sales from January through March… not the sale, but the processed applications from January through March.

If we extrapolate that rate for the remainder of the year, we can expect to process a hundred and twenty thousand or so permit applications this year.