TFred
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Surprised nobody posted this yet... unless I missed it!
Guns and booze don't mix, lawsuit argues
Thu Jul 2, 2009 12:10pm EDT
By Pat Harris
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A well-known restaurateur is fighting back against Tennessee's newly enacted law that allows gun owners to bring their weapons into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.
Randy Rayburn, owner of three top-rated restaurants in Nashville, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the state law's constitutionality, arguing it creates a public nuisance by threatening the safety of the public.
"If it's called a 'nuisance bar,' with shootings, it normally gets shut down. But in Tennessee, we apparently are going to have 225,000 vigilantes shooting in bars," said David Smith, Rayburn's attorney.
At least 200,000 Tennesseans have permits allowing them to carry their guns concealed while in public. The new law that takes effect on July 14 also specifies that persons who bring their guns into an establishment cannot drink alcohol.
Rayburn's lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, claims the law violates the constitutional rights of the owners, customers and employees of restaurants and bars.
The new law was pushed by the Tennessee Firearms Association. Its executive director, John Harris, said critics had every opportunity to defeat the legislation -- which state lawmakers passed with little opposition -- and should not turn to court action at this point.
There are 37 U.S. states that give most people who apply the right to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. A few U.S. towns have tried to require residents to own guns.
A spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control advocacy group, said Tennessee's law posed obvious risks.
"Any time you introduce guns into a situation where there's alcohol, where they can be fights, it's dangerous," spokesman Chad Ramsey said. "We've all been to bars. They get crowded and there's pushing and shoving sometimes. A situation that is ugly can become deadly."
Rayburn's lawsuit will receive a hearing on July 13, a day before the law is due to go into force.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Nashville restaurateur to fight state gun law
Suit will challenge measure's constitutionality
By Brad Schrade
THE TENNESSEAN
A well-known Nashville restaurant and bar owner plans to sue today to stop the state's new guns-in-bars law from taking effect later this month.
The case will center on claims that the law would create a public nuisance that threatens the safety of the public, and violates the constitutional rights of restaurant/bar owners, patrons and employees.
Randy Rayburn, owner of the Sunset Grill, Midtown Cafe and Cabana, said advocates pushing the law falsely claimed that nearly 40 other states had similar laws. He said the law creates increased liability for him and other owners and is a matter of public safety.
"They've told more fairy tales than the Brothers Grimm," Rayburn said. "Tennessee is the only state that has a law that specifically authorizes gun permit carriers to carry their weapons into establishments that serve 50 percent or more alcohol."
John Harris, the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, which pushed for the law, said those pursuing the lawsuit are misguided and are trying to derail a legislative initiative that has been contemplated and discussed for more than a decade.
Harris said the idea that the legislature was not fully informed when it enacted the law last month after years of debate "borders on insanity." He said those pushing the suit had ample opportunity through the legislative process to make their arguments and to turn to the courts is an effort to derail the General Assembly's action.
"The problem is they don't get the opportunity to argue, particularly in a circumstance like this, that the legislature was somehow misled in making a policy decision," Harris said. "If no other state had this rule, Tennessee could adopt it and be the first. … The only real remedy they have is to go back to the legislature next year and persuade them they've made a bad policy decision and to change it."
New set of burdens
The lawsuit, to be filed in chancery court in Davidson County, will be the latest turn in one of the most controversial pieces of legislation from the most recent session. The law allows more than 200,000 handgun carry permit owners to bring their weapons into bars and restaurants. One provision of the new law is that any patron carrying a handgun can't consume alcohol.
Technically, in Tennessee, places that serve liquor are classified as restaurants because they also must serve food under the law. Owners of the establishments can place signs barring gun permit holders from bringing their weapons inside, but Rayburn's attorney said the law creates a new set of burdens for owners.
His attorney, David Randolph Smith, said the lack of legal distinction in Tennessee between restaurants and bars means that it is the first state to affirmatively say it is OK to bring guns in bars.
The law is set to take effect July 14, and the suit seeks a temporary restraining order until the case can go to trial to determine the law's constitutionality.
Smith said in this case the state would be aiding and abetting a public nuisance by allowing guns in bars.
"Courts have historically shut down bars with guns in them or where shootings occurred," Smith said. "It's called a nuisance bar. If a bar has shootings in it, it normally gets shut down. But in Tennessee we apparently are going to have 225,000 vigilantes shooting in bars."
Surprised nobody posted this yet... unless I missed it!
Guns and booze don't mix, lawsuit argues
Thu Jul 2, 2009 12:10pm EDT
By Pat Harris
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A well-known restaurateur is fighting back against Tennessee's newly enacted law that allows gun owners to bring their weapons into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.
Randy Rayburn, owner of three top-rated restaurants in Nashville, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the state law's constitutionality, arguing it creates a public nuisance by threatening the safety of the public.
"If it's called a 'nuisance bar,' with shootings, it normally gets shut down. But in Tennessee, we apparently are going to have 225,000 vigilantes shooting in bars," said David Smith, Rayburn's attorney.
At least 200,000 Tennesseans have permits allowing them to carry their guns concealed while in public. The new law that takes effect on July 14 also specifies that persons who bring their guns into an establishment cannot drink alcohol.
Rayburn's lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, claims the law violates the constitutional rights of the owners, customers and employees of restaurants and bars.
The new law was pushed by the Tennessee Firearms Association. Its executive director, John Harris, said critics had every opportunity to defeat the legislation -- which state lawmakers passed with little opposition -- and should not turn to court action at this point.
There are 37 U.S. states that give most people who apply the right to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. A few U.S. towns have tried to require residents to own guns.
A spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control advocacy group, said Tennessee's law posed obvious risks.
"Any time you introduce guns into a situation where there's alcohol, where they can be fights, it's dangerous," spokesman Chad Ramsey said. "We've all been to bars. They get crowded and there's pushing and shoving sometimes. A situation that is ugly can become deadly."
Rayburn's lawsuit will receive a hearing on July 13, a day before the law is due to go into force.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Nashville restaurateur to fight state gun law
Suit will challenge measure's constitutionality
By Brad Schrade
THE TENNESSEAN
A well-known Nashville restaurant and bar owner plans to sue today to stop the state's new guns-in-bars law from taking effect later this month.
The case will center on claims that the law would create a public nuisance that threatens the safety of the public, and violates the constitutional rights of restaurant/bar owners, patrons and employees.
Randy Rayburn, owner of the Sunset Grill, Midtown Cafe and Cabana, said advocates pushing the law falsely claimed that nearly 40 other states had similar laws. He said the law creates increased liability for him and other owners and is a matter of public safety.
"They've told more fairy tales than the Brothers Grimm," Rayburn said. "Tennessee is the only state that has a law that specifically authorizes gun permit carriers to carry their weapons into establishments that serve 50 percent or more alcohol."
John Harris, the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, which pushed for the law, said those pursuing the lawsuit are misguided and are trying to derail a legislative initiative that has been contemplated and discussed for more than a decade.
Harris said the idea that the legislature was not fully informed when it enacted the law last month after years of debate "borders on insanity." He said those pushing the suit had ample opportunity through the legislative process to make their arguments and to turn to the courts is an effort to derail the General Assembly's action.
"The problem is they don't get the opportunity to argue, particularly in a circumstance like this, that the legislature was somehow misled in making a policy decision," Harris said. "If no other state had this rule, Tennessee could adopt it and be the first. … The only real remedy they have is to go back to the legislature next year and persuade them they've made a bad policy decision and to change it."
New set of burdens
The lawsuit, to be filed in chancery court in Davidson County, will be the latest turn in one of the most controversial pieces of legislation from the most recent session. The law allows more than 200,000 handgun carry permit owners to bring their weapons into bars and restaurants. One provision of the new law is that any patron carrying a handgun can't consume alcohol.
Technically, in Tennessee, places that serve liquor are classified as restaurants because they also must serve food under the law. Owners of the establishments can place signs barring gun permit holders from bringing their weapons inside, but Rayburn's attorney said the law creates a new set of burdens for owners.
His attorney, David Randolph Smith, said the lack of legal distinction in Tennessee between restaurants and bars means that it is the first state to affirmatively say it is OK to bring guns in bars.
The law is set to take effect July 14, and the suit seeks a temporary restraining order until the case can go to trial to determine the law's constitutionality.
Smith said in this case the state would be aiding and abetting a public nuisance by allowing guns in bars.
"Courts have historically shut down bars with guns in them or where shootings occurred," Smith said. "It's called a nuisance bar. If a bar has shootings in it, it normally gets shut down. But in Tennessee we apparently are going to have 225,000 vigilantes shooting in bars."
