First, from the AP via Kleinheider, the Tennessee Firearms Association exhibits their true beliefs – they only value your personal liberty if it matches exactly their personal vision of said liberty:
The Tennessee Firearms Association is seeking to publicly identify each law enforcement officer and prosecutor who attended Gov. Phil Bredesen’s veto of a bill to allow people with handgun carry permits to take their weapons into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.
And now, Tennessee Gun Owners want to punish a small-business owner for operating his business the way he sees fit. Andy Feinstone, co-owner of Bosco’s (Nashville, Cool Springs, Memphis), posted signs in all his restaurants banning handguns, because, you know, it’s his business and he has that right and the freedom to make that choice. “I think it’s great that the governor vetoed it, and hopefully it doesn’t get overridden,” Feinstone told The Leaf Chronicle.
But “his business, his decision” is a tenant that doesn’t sit too well with the TGO organizers, who want to force Mr. Firestone to operate on their terms:
So I am curious. How many of you would participate in a lawful, peacful protest in front of the Hillsboro Village location of Boscos restaurant following the presumed Tennessee House & Senate override of Governor Bredesen’s veto?
…
The goals of this would be to:
* Put these restaurant owners on notice that not only will they lose our business as pro-personal protection consumers, but they will also have unwanted attention drawn to their practice.
* Inspire restaurant owners to reconsider their decisions and remove their individual ban on being able to protect ourselves while dining in their establishments.
* By dressing nicely, having intelligently worded signs and flyers, and conducting ourselves peacefully and with tact and decorum, show that gun owners are not all neanderthal redneck backwoods hicks as the media paints us so broadly.
In other words, you have the personal freedom to operate your business the way you wish until we don’t like what you’re doing. The Party of Personal Freedom? FAIL
I would be willing to protest this stupid law and express my support for our Governor and the co-owner of Bosco’s. I sometimes go to a bar/club just to listen to live music and have a good time (and not cause any trouble). But if this veto gets overuled in the Tennessee, I will not go to any bar or club because if this law passes, I will not feel very safe at all. I’ll be taking my money somewhere else where I feel safe and not fearing that I will get hurt or killed by a stray bullet.
Overall, I am proud that our Governor, Mr. Feinstone and our brave men and women in our police force in Tennessee that stood up againist this stupid law. Nashville needs to go forward and become a great 21st Century City…NOT go backwards to the days of “Gunsmoke”.
Luckily, the law does say that a bar owner can post a sign and thereby opt out.
I just find it ironic that the people who are yelling that their “liberty” is being threatened by the Governor’s veto are the same people that find it necessary to threaten the “liberty” of a small business owner.
I’m glad for this stupid law for only one reason. Finally, Democrats have to confront the fact that private property is just that: private.
As for the protests, the best way to combat speech is with more speech. Let’s all have a beer!
[...] Liberal Moonbat radio host Mary Mancini has picked up on it and given TGO a nice plug on her Blog. Boscos at Gunpoint LIBERADIO(!) Thanks for visiting, Mary! __________________ "Gun Free Zones are a [...]
I wish I could understand what you’re getting at with this blog, but I can’t.
You disparage this group for suggesting a protest, which is protected under our First Amendment? When we liberals gather for protest, I’m not sure I’ve seen you with a simialr attitude.
If we have the right to protest their views, they have just as much right to protest ours. I think it’s safe to say that Liberals (I know I have on more than one occasion) have taken part in the protest of more than a few private persons and companies.
Sorry, but I just can’t agree with you on this one.
K.B.
Mary,
First and foremost, thanks for visiting TGO today. You’re not the demographic that we typically attract but I’m happy to count you among our viewers.
Secondly, it’s actually rather inspiring to me that you, a Leftwing blogger, has picked up this story and started criticizing me for thinking about staging a peaceful protest against Boscos. To me, it smells like fear and loathing.
Fear that a Conservative like me might use a traditionally radical Leftist means of opposition against your side of the argument, and loathing that one of us Conservatives has finally figured out how to play by your rules.
In fact, I see that one of your regulars (Mr. Bunce) has zeroed in on this as well. Thanks for the understanding, Kyle. We may not agree on certain things but I’m thankful that you do at least agree on our First Amendment right to peaceably assemble and protest something that we disagree with.
All the best,
–David
So, if a business has a right to ban people becaue they carry firearms,do they also have a right to ban people because of race or sexual orientation?
Mary, were you as outraged when the smoking laws went into effect? Private property rights weren’t a concern then. But of course smoking bans are politically correct.
James Hamilton said,
Mary, were you as outraged when the smoking laws went into effect? Private property rights weren’t a concern then. But of course smoking bans are politically correct.
+1,000,000 James, I don’t smoke myself, but if business owners have he right to allow or disallow handgun carry, they should have the same right for smoking.
Then, the customers could decide whether or not to spend their money there.
i am looking forward to see how many gun owners will put their mouth where their money was,and stay out of any establishment banning guns,and out of any place serving alcohol.
In response to Tad, I used to be a regular visitor to and former employee of Mike Chase’s restaraunts. Since his stance against this bill has come out I have ceased going to his establishments and suggested family and friends do the same.
this bill and it’s supporters, just goes to show that”BUBBA” type thinking is alive and well in TN. and we wonder why folks still have the perceptions of us that they do, but hey, this state voted for a retirement home candidate and a brainless bimbo….so what does one expect? you mix guns with booze,we all loose.
What about the other 40 something states where this legislation already exists? Do they have bar patrons shooting each other up?
I read comment threads on posts like the one linked above, in the now-nearly-completely-dashed hope that I will see an anti-gun argument posted that has not been discredited twenty times over, or at least a novel idea by the antis in the gun debate. Everything presented is old, old, old.
This post, like all posts & comments I have read since about the time Heller v. DC brought out the best in commenters, disappoints greatly. Feelings, ad-hominem, discredited info, lack of knowledge on the part of the anti-gunners. Data, rationality, information presented by the pro-gunners. Nothing new.
I am told I am a dreamer, but I will continue to search.
The restaurant has the right to ban guns at his place and the pro gunnies have the right to protest his decsion and boycott the place. So what is wrong with the protest.
As to knowing whothe officers were at the veto ceremont that is accounability by the citizens to know who is willfully or not being used as a prop.
If police chiefs and sheriffs are willing to be the public face for a veto ceremony the voters do have the right to know who they are. So they can either approve or disapprove in future elections.
True to liberal form, the comments in the above article do nothing to foster a genuine discussion of the issue, and instead, the article stoops to a typical tactic of the Left – instead of presenting a cogent, logical argument, the article resorts to demonization and character assassination of the opposition. When logic can’t win an argument, turn up the mindless, emotional rhetoric.
The simple truth is there are at least 37 other states where similar laws have been passed, and NONE of them has turned into what you Libs are always screaming about: drunks with guns turning every bar and restaurant into the Old West. The truth is that CCW holders across the US are among the most law abiding people around.
No restaurant owner’s liberty is being challenged. The only liberty really being challenged is for law abiding TN citizens to defend themselves and their families when they go out to lunch or dinner at a place that happens to serve alcohol.
If the owner of Boscos wants to prohibit concealed carry at his establishments, I certainly respect his right to do so, just as I am sure he respects my right to bypass his restaurant in favor of spending my hard earned cash at another venue that is not anti-2nd Amendment. In my case, this started yesterday afternoon (6/5/09) when I first saw the no gun sticker at the 21st Ave location. I am sure the owner of Boscos also respects my right to discuss, email or blog this topic with every other gun owner and CCW holder I know.
I, my wife and children will NEVER spend our money in any restaurant where the owner denies my CONSTITUTIONALLY guaranteed right to bear arms for self defense. These folks have essentially painted a target on their establishments’ front windoww with a sign that says “GUN FREE ZONE – come in and freely rob, rape and kill all the patrons in here”. How many of you left wingers would be dumb enough to put a “GUN FREE ZONE” sign in the front yard of your house?
I can promise you that most, if not all of my CCW friends and acquaintances will never patronize a restaurant that doesn’t allow self defense with a firearm. CCW holders tend not to be middle of the road folks when it comes to the 2nd Amendment; we DO tend to be passionate about our rights to self defense. There are over 200,000 CCW holders in TN. That’s a lot of folks with a lot of cash. WE ARE EVERYWHERE.
Brentwood, TN
Thanks for your comments, Brentwood. But you contradict yourself.
If the simple truth is that there isn’t any gun violence in bars and restaurants, then why do you differentiate between bars that allow guns and bars that do not allow guns?
To A Guy in Brentwood…couldn’t have said it better. But Mary…he’s not differentiating any worse than the conservatives do. When those who wish to ban guns have their discussion, they rarely (if ever) bring out the fact that what they’re really looking to stop are the CRIMINALS…yet they continue to go after all of us who carry.
For those who look to veto these types of bills for fear of spending time in an establishment that serves alcohol to “gun-toting” Americans…you’re already spending time in those establishments with those of us who carry….you just don’t know who we are. Making it legal for us to carry when we’re at dinner simply allows us the freedom to keep our firearms with us while we enjoy a relaxing meal. We’re not allowed to drink if we carry. And if we have our guns with us, you’re less likely to get shot when you leave the place by some idiot that illegally breaks into our vehicles to steal our weapons.
Those of us who have earned the right to carry concealed are NOT your problem. And as the Brentwood man said, the restaurant & bar owners certainly have a choice to put the sign up…but it won’t stop us from carrying into their establishments. What it will do is let those non-law-abiding citizens feel much safer about robbing the place. Just pray that there’s a card-carrying/weapon-wielding patron enjoying their meal with their family nearby when it happens…because they’re always more than willing to protect YOU at their own risk as well.
An owner of a restaurant or bar has the freedom to choose whether they allow firearms in their place of business and the HCP holders have the freedom to take their business somewhere else. This bill just makes it legal for HCP holders to go out to eat w/o disarming at an establishment that serves alcohol. It still will be illegal to drink alcohol and carry a firearm, so all the bleating about “guns and alcohol don’t mix” just highlights the ignorance about this legislation. The “protest” at Bosco’s is just a heads up the management about how much business they will be losing.
BTW, the signs won’t stop criminals. They’re already used to breaking laws. They’ll appreciate that the only ones with guns in these establishments are themselves and other criminals.
I used to work at boscos and went in there last night and you know what they didn’t check me for a gun. I don’t mind certain restaurants asserting their rights but they act like they have been checking people for weapons all along(hell no). Just let the permit holders in you know there not going to be in bars anyway(mostly restaurants) There are no examples of wild shootouts in states that have this and the only arguement I hear people using is It will be like “Gunsmoke” or “some wild west show” well need I remind you that those are made up and not real.