Arizona Approves Bill Allowing Guns In Bars

[tt11758]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31683427/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001

PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a business that serves alcohol.

The 19-8 vote completes legislative action on the bill and sends it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a supporter of gun rights.

The measure has pitted powerful groups representing gun and bar owners against each other, sparking a debate about whether guns and alcohol can coexist without bloodshed.

Critics of the measure say guns and alcohol are a dangerous combination.

"We don't let people drink and drive, why should we let them drink and carry guns?" said Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, who voted against the bill.

Supporters say they should be able to protect themselves and their families even if they happen to be inside a business serving alcohol.

"It's very important that criminals are now afraid rather than law abiding citizens," said Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, the bill's sponsor.

The measure would ban drinking while packing and allow restaurants to deny entry to gun-toting citizens by posting a sign next to their liquor license.

The bill initially required that a bar serving alcohol also serve food, but that provision was removed at the request of bar owners who worried about uncertainty over which bars have kitchens.

Forty other states have approved similar measures, according to the National Rifle Association.

Former Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, vetoed a similar bill earlier this decade that would not have required people to have concealed weapons permits in order to carry guns in bars.

More than 127,000 Arizonans have concealed weapons permits, which require a gun safety course and background check, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, who voted against the bill, and is quoted in the above article asking why people should be allowed to drink and carry guns, apparently didn't read the bill before voting no, since it states that those people carrying are barred from drinking when they carry.

Typical democrat-anti-gun asshat.

[JC5123]

This is a step in the right direction. Hopefully more states will follow suit. My wife and I both agree that, isn't it interesting that the places you are barred from carrying, are the places you want to be armed the most?

[WatchManUSA]

Those of you in Arizona - congratulations.

I approve of the provision banning drinking while packing.  Will an infraction be called a PWI (packing while intoxicated) or PUI (packing under the influence)?

[MikeBjerum]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31683427/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001




Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, who voted against the bill, and is quoted in the above article asking why people should be allowed to drink and carry guns, apparently didn't read the bill before voting no, since it states that those people carrying are barred from drinking when they carry.

Typical democrat-anti-gun asshat.

I'd like to know if AZ has a law in place or proposed by Aboud that would ban people that drink from sitting in a car, or driving a car altogether, or should they just ban parking at bars because bars and cars don't mix.

[Kid Shelleen]

Arizona rocks. Just saw on Fox News this morning that they have passed a bill invoking their Tenth Amendment right to opt out of any Federal healthcare plan that BHO might impose. Now that's proactive.

[Sponsor]

[True_Texan]

Here it has been a long standing law that only a place displaying a 51% sign at the entrance keeps those carrying concealed out of the establishment. 51 has to do with the amount of business they do dealing with the sale and CONSUMPTION of alcohol. If 51% of their income is from that, they are allowed to display the sign.

Hospitals are also allowed to display the sign. If they fail to display it at each entrance, then you are within your legal right to walk through that door. At all restaurants, including those serving alcohol, you are allowed to carry and consume alcohol legally.

You are not allowed to be legally drunk while carrying. It's a fine line for sure. I have actually purchased a breathalyzer so I know if I would be considered "Legally" drunk. Same thing goes for driving. I know the law so I can walk the line of it's boundaries.

[TAB]

I don't have a prob with that... but if they drink they should lose thier ccw for a very, very long time.

[tt11758]

I don't have a prob with that... but if they drink they should lose thier ccw for a very, very long time.

I must agree.  Personally I would never drink while carrying, just as I would never have even one drink if I were on a motorcycle.  In both instances, lives are at stake, and I DAMN sure want to be in FULL control of my faculties!!