Virginia could be on the verge of celebrating the days of the old Wild West. That’s because a State Senate committee has approved legislation that would allow bars to admit people carrying concealed weapons.
It’s ridiculous.
Why? Because the mixture of alcohol with firearms is a deadly one. Guns and alcohol, plainly and simply, don’t mix.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee last week narrowly approved the bill on an 8-7 vote that would allow holders of concealed-weapons permits into restaurants that serve alcohol.
But Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, injected maybe a jigger of safety into the bill when he offered a measure that would make it a misdemeanor offense to consume alcohol in a bar or restaurant while carrying a concealed weapon.
That bill has come up before leading to the riddle about how can you spot the guy at the bar carrying a concealed weapon. He’s the one drinking club soda.
Restaurant owners have lobbied against allowing concealed weapons in their bars because they don’t want to have to deal with the potential for added danger in their establishments.
The owners said concealed weapons are allowed in the state’s 11,000 restaurants that do not sell alcohol, and allowing them in those that do could put bar owners in a predicament.
“It’s going to be real hard for someone to determine whether that person they are passing a beer or drink across the bar to if they have a concealed weapon on them,” said Robert McNulty, general manager of Sine Irish Pub in Richmond.
Virginia law does allow restaurants to refuse to allow guns — whether open or concealed — in their establishments.
“It’s madness to allow guns in bars and it’s very discouraging we don’t have the votes to stop it,” said Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax.
Similar legislation has passed the full General Assembly the past two years. But it was sensibly vetoed by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Gov. Bob McDonnell has indicated that he supports the legislation and would sign it.
Kaine warned that allowing it to become law would put the public, employees and public safety officers at risk.
The mixture of firearms and alcohol in the bars and on the streets and sidewalks of Virginia makes no sense. As we have said here many times before, it is nothing short of deadly.
Perhaps the new governor will see and understand that point of view. If so, he could bring himself to veto the bill, which will surely land on his desk this time around.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement