Friday, June 4, 2010

And we have Round 2

Tonight, approximately one hour ago, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to override Governor Bredesen's veto of SB 3012.

If this is the first thing you've ever read on this blog, let me mention that SB 3012 provides that a Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit holder may carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol, provided the HCP holder does not drink.

The bill provides additional penalties for carrying and drinking that were not law prior to its passage.

The law goes into effect immediately, "the public welfare requiring it," according to the way it is worded. However, some say it is unwise to carry into an alcohol-serving establishment until the document is written up and filed into law. I say carry concealed and it won't be a problem.

Prediction: many media outlets will call this the "guns in bars" bill. Why? Tennessee law does not provide for the existence of bars. There are restaurants, and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol. That's it. All "bars" in TN are simply restaurants with an alcohol by the drink license. Technically, it is illegal for these establishments to draw more than 50% of their revenue from the sale of alcohol - but that law is loosely enforced.

Prediction 2: Randy Rayburn and crew are expected to request an injunction on Monday. This is not expected to be done, and it is unlikely the law will be overturned as there is little or no vagueness in this iteration of the law like there was last year.

Post Edit 1: Nashville's Channel 2 is the first of the local media outlets to post a story on this. And they lived up to my first prediction - errantly calling it "guns in bars."
Nashville Chanel 5 covered the story 5 minutes after. They also got it wrong.

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