Say Uncle beat me to it.
Back in May, Tennessee Governor Phil Bresden said:
Guns and alcohol don’t mix.
He is absolutely correct – firearms should never be handled, carried, or operated while the user meets the legal definition of “intoxicated”. However, Governor Phil used that “rationale” (such as it is) as a basis for his veto of a bill that would allow law-abiding handgun carry permit holders to carry their firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol. That bill, however, would not have legalized carrying while intoxicated, nor would it have legalized carrying while having any alcohol in your system at all – both remain illegal under Tennessee State Code.
Thus, from a legal point of view, even with handgun carry permit holders being allowed to carry into establishments that serve alcohol, guns and alcohol still were not mixing. However, from Governor Phil’s point of view, people carrying firearms into estabishments that serve alcohol constitutes “mixing” the two of them, and thus it should never be allowed.
Well, color me surprised, then, that Governor Phil just signed a bill allowing off-duty police officers to carry firearms into bars. Yes, I said “bars” specifically, since that was how the debate over the previous “firearms in establishments that serve alcohol” was framed.
So, Governor Phil, I thought “guns and alcohol don’t mix”, ever? And I thought that phrase meant law-abiding citizens should not be permitted to carry into places that serve alcohol? Or are you just continuing the specious concept that police officers are somehow a higher class of citizens? Need I remind you that it was not too long ago that a police officer was convicted of second-degree murder when he shot someone in a bar, while he was off-duty? Not only was he illegally carrying in a bar, but he actually fulfilled the hoplophobes wet dreams, and murdered someone while illegally carrying. So… how many instances of a non-LEO citizen doing something similar can you cite, Governor Phil?
Governor Phil Bredesen is a liar, so this double-standard is hardly surprising to me. However, this situation has made one thing crystal clear: Governor Phil’s previous veto was an intentional and malicious assault on the rights of citizens with handgun carry permits, and one designed to keep us lowly non-LEO citizens defenseless and unarmed. It is just as well that Governor Phil is about to run, head first, into his term limits – this degree of outright bigotry, favoritism, and discrimination is no way to get re-elected.
(Nothing in this post should be construed as insulting or attacking police officers. However, there is absolutely no reason why their natural right to self-preservation should be preserved while mine is abridged.)
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