Stupid Georgia Gun Law

Stupid Georgia Gun Law

Over at Free Speech is this useful discussion of a stupid Georgia gun law:

As a Georgia Firearms Licensee, I have often thought to myself how absolutely stupid it is that those of us who have a license to carry a concealed firearm are not allowed by state law to carry in any restaurant that serves alcohol for consumption on the premise. It doesn’t matter if I’m not even having an alcoholic drink. I’m still not allowed to carry my weapon in that place of business. I either have to disarm myself, leaving me and my family potentially vulnerable, or I have to go eat somewhere else.

I’m sure that at some point in the past, some ignorant lawmaker decided that we average everyday folks are just too stupid and irresponsible to have our firearms on us when we’re anywhere near a keg of beer or a mixed drink, even if we’re not the one drinking it. We might get drunk, get rowdy and start shooting up the place, I guess. The only problem with this logic is that it is not GFL carriers that do that kind of thing. We defend ourselves and others when SOMEONE ELSE gets drunk, gets rowdy and starts shooting up the place, as happened in Norcross, GA this past weekend:

Fatal shooting at Norcross bar marks Gwinnett homicide record

Witnesses said Ojeda appeared to have been drinking when he drove up to the restaurant around midnight, Norcross Police Detective Jason Carter said. Ojeda joined a group of four other people “other regulars, but not well acquainted with the man” on the patio and became belligerent when one person asked Ojeda not to be obnoxious. After a brief scuffle, Ojeda left, only to return with a gun about 45 minutes later, Carter said.

As people on the patio scattered, one of the men he’d been sitting with ran away but drew his own gun, police said. That man, whose name was not released, fired once and hit Ojeda in the head, police said.

Technically, this unnamed patron was breaking Georgia Law by carrying his weapon in this restaurant that serves alcohol. Thank God he was, or there is no telling how many would have been dead when Mr. Ojeda finished his drunken rampage. This GFL holder was able to stop this drunk shooter before the man even got off a single shot. This man is a hero, in my opinion, and should be hailed as such. Unfortunately he’s probably worried right now about whether he will be prosecuted for carrying the gun that saved himself and possibly countless others into that restaurant which was against the law.

Now, I understand what the objective of the original law was, and I can sympathize with the intent. The goal was to prohibit people from going into bars armed and getting drunk. Alcohol and guns don't mix well together. (Neither do alcohol and cars, alcohol and power tools, alcohol and ladders, alcohol and random sex--you might say that alcohol doesn't play well with others.)

Kentucky has a somewhat more rational law that prohibited concealed carry in:

Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense beer or alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to that purpose.

This means that you can't carry concealed into a bar, or the bar part of a restaurant. (The restaurant part would be just fine.) I was also told, while in Kentucky for the Gun Rights Policy Conference, that "primarily devoted to that purpose" meant that more than 50% of the restaurants profit came from the sale of alcohol.

But if I meet some friends in a bar, or the bar part of a restaurant, it shouldn't matter if I am carrying concealed. I seldom drink (maybe a glass of wine with dinner, rarely), and I never drink when I am outside my home, because I will almost certainly be driving. (Not being much of a drinker, sniffing the cork from the wine bottle is almost enough to impair my driving.) If anything, the tendency of some people to get combative after a few drinks (as in the example above) is a strong argument for those who are not drinking at all to be allowed to carry concealed in bars.

A sensible rule might be: if you are carrying concealed, you may not drink in a public place, and any detectable alcohol in your blood or breath should be an offense. That makes more sense than this stupid Georgia law. Fortunately, someone in that bar broke the law, and was armed when Ojeda lost control.