imported post
Bookman wrote:
Crossfire Jedi wrote:
OK, I may get beat up for stating this but I am really trying to understand the thinking of those that are for it.
If you are going to a establishment that serves alcohol, do you really want people carrying? Being away from the bar scene for sometime, just remembering my time served in them during my military days..I can atest things can get crazy and people will fight and do stupid things when they are drinking.
I believe carrying a gun and drinking alcohol is stupid/immature. I believe being in a establishment that is serving those that are carrying is stupid, however, that's just me. For those that think different, please let me know where I am wrong.
Once again, not trying to offend anyone here. I really want to understand the thinking for those that disagree with me.
No beating here, but there was a mass shooting in a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen TX about 10 years ago in which several people were killed. At the time TX law didn't allow people to carry a firearm into a restaurant. One of the women who was present had permit to carry a weapon but had to leave it in the car. She even had a chance to shoot the perpetrator had she been able to have her gun in her purse where she normally carried it. She lost both of her parents that day. She later went on to be one of the major proponents in getting that law changed.
Things like this are the reason the restaurant law needs to be changed.
A few corrections, but the story is generally accurate.
1) The Luby's shooting was in 1991.
2) Not true about carrying a firearm "into a restaurant". Texas had, and still has, a law regarding Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon (UCW). If you didn't meet an exception to the statute, you could not carry a HANDGUN in most public places. The big difference between now and then is that having a Concealed Handgun License is on of the exceptions.
3) Suzanna Hupp, the woman to whom you refer, did NOT have a permit because the State of Texas had no law providing for the issuance of a permit, license, or anything else. What she was doing was illegally carrying a pistol but it was locked in her car.
4) She did go on to advocate for the ability of law-abiding Texans to carry handguns, got elected to the state legislature, and worked with others to pass CHL.
Jedi, here are two point submitted for your consideration:
1) While I'm sure the occasional instance can be found, most law-abiding folks don't turn into idiots after they have had a drink or two (I'm not talking about being DRUNK). We allow people to be in command of 2 ton weapons, automobiles, up and until they reach a certain level of impairment. Why should firearms be any different especially since we know that driving a car is a privilege and the 2A is a constitutional right. Texas law allows you to carry your concealed handgun in restaurants that serve alcohol (but not bars, currently) and even to drink as long as you are not intoxicated. I'm not aware of any problems as a result.
2) If you think that the above is too much liberty (being able to carry up until you are intoxicated), laws against restaurant carry should be repealed because they keep non-drinkers from carrying. What possible justification could someone have for keeping a 100% sober person from being able to defend themselves or their family simply because OTHERS are drinking? In fact, one could argue -- as you did, that people get crazy when drinking -- that the non-drinker is in more danger and thus has greater need for a defensive weapon.
I think Texas has it right. A beer or a glass of wine with dinner doesn't turn most people into unreliable crazies and thus there is no basis -- other than unfounded fear -- for disarming them.
SA-TX