It’s always interesting to see how foreign media covers the gun debate in this country. I can’t say it looks any different than what you’d find from, say, the New York Times:
Now America’s powerful gun lobby is pushing for the introduction of “commonsense†laws in Arizona that would allow people to walk into bars with guns — just as they did in the old days. Tennessee and Georgia have approved the measure in the past year and a similar law is now being considered by Arizona’s state legislature.
Pennsylvania is already the “wild west” then, and unlike Arizona, we have no restrictions against drinking while carrying. Though, I think being caught intoxicated in public while carrying would probably be grounds for the sheriff to revoke your LTC. Either way, I don’t see why this is always such a big deal. It’s not like gunfights breaking out in bars is a common occurrence here, and we have a lot more LTC holders than any other state in the nation.
It’s Ravenwood’s Second Law!
Colorado has no restriction on carrying in bars, even if alcohol is the main purpose of the establishment. Permits were granted by discretion prior to 2003 and there were about 10,000 outstanding at that time. As of the end of 2008 there are about 70,000 outstanding.
I don’t know of any permit holder getting into any sort of trouble in a bar, and believe there are either none or almost none.
Only 138 permits were revoked or suspended in 2008 for any reason, which computes to about 0.2% of the number of permits that were outstanding during the year. I would venture to say that more than 0.2% of cops get fired for fitness reasons in a given year.
Apparently, having absolutely no restriction on permit holders carrying in bars presents no problem.
It is a serious misdemeanor in Colorado to be intoxicated (same BAC as for driving) while in possession of a firearm, permit or no permit.
Ditto Indiana. No such law, and no blood in the streets, er, bars.
At the risk of repeating myself:
Two words: Kenneth Gage
A little clarification. In Georgia, you can’t carry in locations whose alcohol sales exceed 50% of their revenue. Also, you can not drink and carry.
This was a huge improvement that passed last year. Prior to Rep. Bearden’s HB89, you couldn’t carry in any location that served alcohol, including Pizza Hut. Now you can carry there, just not drink.
The reason it resembles the NYT is it probably started there. The average Foreign Correspondent these days sets up shop in a swanky hotel on his employer’s expenses then hits the bar for a few nights. When the deadline looms he grabs hold of a copy of the NYT and WaPo and rewrites something that catches his attention in there. Since Britain’s sub-editors are not as dour and humorless as those of the MSM over here, the journalist generally slips some more colorful language into it, but the “facts” will have come straight from the American press.
I’d be curious if you could name some names, Gildas. I’ve work with many foreign reporters working here in the US and never experienced anything remotely close to that. Do you have specific experiences with reporters who are that lazy?