Posted on 06/30/2009 5:25:01 AM PDT by marktwain
Radio) - "We've already seen in this community a number of shootings in bars and restaurants and parking lots, I think this just makes it worse and I don't understand what the public purpose was for passing this law," John Elkington said.
John Elkington represents the Beale Street Merchants Association and Performa Entertainment. He says guns and alcohol don't mix, which is why all handgun carriers will have to leave their weapons at home if they want to enjoy Beale Street. Come July 17th signs will be posted stating "No Guns Allowed." The new legislation restricts handgun carriers from drinking alcohol while inside the bar or restaurant but does not require the carrier to expose their weapon. Elkington says locally business owners can choose whether or not to permit handgun carriers in their establishments.
"We are in a much more volatile situation as a bar than we are as a restaurant. I kept hearing these remarks from various legislators about how they want to protect these people in Chili's and all that, that's great but that's not where the problems occur. You know we have a very tough job in handling security anyway and this is just going to make it that much more difficult," Elkington said.
Elkington says businesses on Beale Street will use security measures including batons to check for firearms. He says knives are already restricted from the street. In one summer security collected more than 650 knives. Elklington says it is not that he doesn't support Second Amendment rights, rather he sees no public purpose in the legislation. State senator Doug Jackson of Dickson is a strong proponent of the bill, he says the purpose is not only to uphold Second Amendment rights but to provide the individual the opportunity to protect themselves. Jackson says that Governor Phil Bredesen's decision to veto the bill was an emotional decision rather than factual, Jackson says Gun Free Zones simply don't work.
"I mean if you look at the travesties that occur, the mass shootings, they're almost always in the gun free zones. You had a restaurant there in the city of Memphis, a deranged individual went out and got a gun illegally. He wasn't a handgun carry permit holder. He went in there and shot the manager. I remember that because I spoke about that in the committee. The manager and everyone in there was defenseless. It is really hard to imagine how government can get to the point to tell a citizen that you don't have the right to defend yourself," Jackson said.
Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton says the new gun legislation takes Memphis in the opposite direction it should be going. He says the no drinking mandate will do little to protect from the chaos that comes with alcohol and guns.
"If you got it on, you better not get any alcohol. And you know even if you prosecuted somebody who violated it, violated that restriction, it is too late for the victim. All the prosecution in the world is not gonna bring it back and we are trying to lessen the chances of that and there is one thing for sure if the gun isn't in there, no one is going to get shot," Wharton said.
"I really don't like getting into these what if scenarios. You can let your imagination run free and wild and come up with all sorts of scary thoughts. What you have to do to look at this issue correctly is to look at the statistics and facts and experience of all these other states, it's like a living laboratory every single day." Jackson said.
Senator Jackson says the 36 other states with similar gun legislation have yet to revoke their current policy. He says the state safety department records show handgun permit holders in Tennessee are responsible as well--with only 278 permits revoked in the last year. According to Memphis police records, there were 1,296 assaults through May; 727 of them involved guns. There were 55 criminal homicides, 44 of those were also committed with guns. © Copyright 2009, UALR Public Radio
At the end they mention 55 criminal homicides. How many of those were committed by CCW carriers? I bet it was zero, but the implication is that CCW carriers were involved.
I didn’t feel safe on Beale Street in broad daylight when we were acosted by aggressive panhandlers. I wouldn’t go in to that area at night without a good reason.
“...old times there are not forgotten...”
PS For all you tourists out there, word to the wise... don't be on the streets of downtown MEM after dark.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Memphian
The 2nd Amendment is my CCW license.
I second the motion. Memphis anywhere near downtown at night is dangerous. LE won't help unless they draw the chalk line around your body. Diverse citizens of Memphis look to whites as prey at night.
There is a HUGE difference in downtown MEM & the suburbs.
Wow! Sounds like they should've posted these signs years ago. All those felons carrying guns would've just turned around and left.
Just got back from L.A. (Whittier). Didn’t feel threatened at all, and I will hardly go to any part of Memphis, even in daylight.
This is an absolutely horrendously written article.. what exactly is the new law? The banning of weapons or the fact they can carry them concealed? Whoever wrote this never stepped back.
It seems the law says they can carry them conceiled but can’t drink, but gives the impression its also a ban?
Very poorly written
I had to renew my permit 3 months ago, had to submit my passport and birth certificate to prove I was a US citizen for another FBI/TBI background check, the renewal form informed me that the State would KEEP my original documents IF I mailed them in. So I opted to go stand in line at the DL station for nearly 2 hours so they could photo copy those documents.
Anybody who would eat at “Chucky Cheese” needs to be “dead” or in “jail.” ...J/K...J/K...
It is a crappy article. The new law is a state law that enables handgun carry permit holders to carry in establishments that have a restaurant license and serve alcohol, so long as they are not consuming alcohol themselves (this had been previously prohibited, so you had to disarm to eat at many restaurants). TN also has a state pre-emption law that invalidates any attempt by local governments to regulate guns. It sounds like Memphis is trying to ban guns altogether from Beale street, which they do not have legal authority to do if it is a public street (as opposed to some privately-owned business district).
lol
Whittier? WOW! I AM impressed!
Maybe, I'll give you one of my Viet Nam war medals! LOL
I don't know what ethnicity you are but if you're white try driving between the 405 and the 710 and then tell me about it...I have Black & Hispanic friends who won't even drive there in DAYLIGHT!
And for the record, I was in MEM during the 1968 riots & in L.A. during the 1992 riots and there was NO comparison. MEM was a picnic compared to the hell in L.A.! Just ask Reginald Denny!
Maybe I was just so excited to be home after nearly 20 years, it never occurred to me to be frightened.
________________________________________
Decades ago a buddy and I created a crime scene in the downtown antique row part of Port Jefferson, NY by outlining his body half on the sidewalk, half in the street and dropping a few drops of red paint.
We did it at three in the morning. By noon there were people swearing that they heard the fight that led to the stabbing...or they heard the shots...we never let on.
They have in New Hampshire for decades, and as recently as last year the life of a Manchester bouncer was defended by an armed bar patron.
People who object to allowing lawful possession of arms in bars are clinging to voodoo, not facts and reality.
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