Opinion Talk

By demwit

April 29, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this

And how will it be difficult to enforce the law? Oh wait…

By James

April 29, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this

Mr. Wolf:

Alcohol sold in your restaurants has killed far more people than any lawfully armed citizen.

By J Moore

April 29, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this

No, Mr. Wolf is wrong. How soon people forget that day not too long ago in 1991, when a nutcase drove his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria. He got out and started shooting randomly for 15 minutes. He killed 24 people. They had to wait what must have been an eternity for police to get there. After being wounded, he shot himself. What a senseless waste of life! That will never happen again in Texas because many people, including women, now carry.

By demwit

April 29, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this

Can I see you ID? Do you have a weapon??

Wow!, that is hard to enforce!!

By tg

April 29, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this

The restaurants are not the enforcers, the burden in on the person that has the PERMIT to carry a concealed weapon.

By Rick

April 29, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this

Set up metal detectors. If they go off.. scan the people for weapons. If the person has a carry permit, let ‘em in. If not… call the police!

How difficult is that?

By MT

April 29, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

What would the public fear more:

Some crazy person, bursting into a restaurant, starting to shoot at everyone, while all you can do is duck for cover and call the police and wait to die?

Or

Some crazy person, bursting into a restaurant, starting to shoot at everyone and a lawful, permit carrying citizen shoots the person before anyone is harmed?

Ignorance about guns is what keeps these crazy people shooting up campuses and schools and having no one there to retaliate, b/c no one will change the laws due to the misconception that arming law-abiding citizens will turn the U.S into a Wild West shooting gallery.

Compare the crime rates in Texas and Florida (lax gun control laws) against the crime rates of Washington D.C. and England (gun ban in effect). It’s not even close.

Armed citizens are a criminal’s worst nightmare.

By JHSVT

April 29, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this

I currently wear my weapon in many restaraunts already. I really did not know you couldn’t, and I’m not going to stop now that I do. I am no threat to anyone. Do you really want me leaving my weapon in my vehicle which stands a good chance of being broken into these days? One of these days someone is going to need the help of one of us who do carry and then at least that person will understand. This is not the place it was when I grew up

By steve

April 29, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this

Personally I think we need to just bend over and take it from criminals. Ok.. Not! Sonny better sign this… or not ( if he doesn’t sign it after 40 days) it becomes law but if he ever wants to be Senator Sonny he dare not veto this bill.

By MikeB

April 29, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

Absolutely right tg………. Restaurants assuming they are responsible for the enforcement of laws is laughable at best.

BTW how many restaurant owners carry a firearm to work???? ALOT.

The burden of responsibility for following the law, rest where it always has, with the individual. It is a choice to follow or to be lawless.

The reason why this is even being proposed, is that many individuals make the choice to be “lawless”, and the police cannot keep up. Until they can (which will be never….), responsible citizens should be allowed to protect themselves from thosepeople living outside the boundries of law, and the possibility that contact with such an individual would expose them to harm.

Want to be a victim? Ask Gov. Perdue to veto this bill, want to send a message to the lawless, and better protect yourself? Apply and acquire a concealed weapons permit, take a gun safety class, and exercise your rights. Wake up Atlanta Metro……….

By Rayzr

April 29, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

James is right…drunk drivers have killed many more than legally armed citizens will ever.

By woodie

April 29, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

The real danger in the restaurant is the criminal. They will have a gun. Period. End of story. You can disarm all the citizens you want but all you are really doing is disarming the innocent. If guns are your big fear, then best you stay home so the criminal can’t find you….humm.

By Hans Apology

April 29, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this

Look, let them eat Glocks. Guns are okay. The real problem in steakhouses are diners carrying concealed pepper mills.

You never know when someone with a beef to grind will let their personal tastes motivate them to add pepper on your entre when you’re not looking. The aftermath? Real cracked peppercorns.

Why doesn’t somebody do something?

By Foster Keats

April 29, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

Of course all the NRA RED NECKS are fired up about gettin’ more gun rights…

By JRB

April 29, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this

I know that this is always going to be a decisive issue and that nothing that is said is likely to sway any one opinion on the matter. However, I have one question that I would like answered by anyone who may know the answer regardless of their feelings on this matter.

What % of crimes involving guns are committed by people who have a a firearms license issued by any state?

My personal feeling is that it would be very low but I don’t know the answer. It just seems like an important question to now the answer to BEFORE make your judgment on the issue.

By MamaS

April 29, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

I will not be taking my family into a restaurant that does not have a “No Guns Allowed” policy. I have never seen a “crazed gunman” burst into a restaurant, but I have seen MANY angry couples fighting or belligerent drunks being denied another drink. I don’t want to be in the firing line when they pull out their “legal” guns.

By Hans Apology

April 29, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this

JRB, that’s a good question. Here’s another less good question, but a question which the LADY asked earlier: How many peoples get keeled by guns by accident? the answer is all of them. 100%. Criminals are too smart to keel people when their committing a crime because it adds four years to their sentence. Who would risk that? Please.

But you know, when gun control nuts claim that handguns are too dangerous I always reply, “IF guns are so dangerous, then show me the bodies. Where are all the bodies if guns are so bad? eh?”

Hey, Eh?

By Police Officer

April 29, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

MamaS,

You better stop taking your family to all fast food restaurants and any full-service restaurants that don’t serve alcohol. Guns are already legal there and people carry all the time.

I do not understand why people think there is any difference between a restaurant that does or does not serve alcohol.

By Bob R.

April 29, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

Maybe all of us CWL holders and our families should boycott Georgia Restaurant Association members that do not welcome us, and patronize those that do… Food for thought.

By KyleM

April 29, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this

Why is the answer to gun violence always more guns? Also, doesn’t this type of action only make it more difficult for the police to determine who a shooter is in a rare instance like a restaruant shooting?

MT, what happens when one of those “lawfully permitted citizens” accidently shoots a child while trying to shoot the criminal? I suppose that is just an accident?

By George H. Foster

April 29, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this

I live in Orlando. Florida has had legal concealed carry in restaurants for 20 years without shootouts every day. In Florida, you can both drink and carry, as long as you do not sit at the bar.

I’ll bet the same restaurant chains who belong to the Georgia Restaurant Association who are fighting this law have not had problems in their Florida locations.

People seem to keep coming to see Micky….

By Matthew H Podowitz

April 29, 2008 1:46 PM | Link to this

Mr. Wolf’s “Take Guns Off the Menu” omits the important fact that under the current law, Georgia Firearms License holders may carry a firearm into any restaurant that does not serve alcohol (approximately 75-85% of restaurants in Georgia). HB89 simply extends this permission to restaurants that serve alcohol but derive more than 50% of their revenues from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages. This represents only an incremental increase in the number of locations permitted. Were Mr. Wolf’s arguments valid, the issues that he raises already would have manifested themselves in the 75-85% of Georgia’s restaurants where firearms may legally be carried by Georgia Firearms License holders today.

Guns are a polarizing issue and will evoke a strong emotion response regardless of what side one is on. However, Mr. Wolf (and the Governor) should consider HB89 on its merits and not on the emotions surrounding the “guns” issue.

By Matthew H Podowitz

April 29, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

Mr. Wolf’s “Take Guns Off the Menu” omits the important fact that under the current law, Georgia Firearms License holders may carry a firearm into any restaurant that does not serve alcohol (approximately 75-85% of restaurants in Georgia). HB89 simply extends this permission to restaurants that serve alcohol but derive more than 50% of their revenues from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages. This represents only an incremental increase in the number of locations permitted. Were Mr. Wolf’s arguments valid, the issues that he raises already would have manifested themselves in the 75-85% of Georgia’s restaurants where firearms may legally be carried by Georgia Firearms License holders today.

Guns are a polarizing issue and will evoke a strong emotion response regardless of what side one is on. However, Mr. Wolf (and the Governor) should consider HB89 on its merits and not on the emotions surrounding the “guns” issue.

By Hans Apology

April 29, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

Peoples carry guns at fast-food restaurants? What do the counter clerks say, “Want sights with that?”

Okay, when I wrote this joke, I researched all the names of gun parts and couldn’t find an acceptable rhyme with “Fries.”

Anyone?

By Matthew H Podowitz

April 29, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this

Mr. Wolf’s “Take Guns Off the Menu” omits the important fact that under the current law, Georgia Firearms License holders may carry a firearm into any restaurant that does not serve alcohol (approximately 75-85% of restaurants in Georgia). HB89 simply extends this permission to restaurants that serve alcohol but derive more than 50% of their revenues from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages. This represents only an incremental increase in the number of locations permitted. Were Mr. Wolf’s arguments valid, the issues that he raises already would have manifested themselves in the 75-85% of Georgia’s restaurants where firearms may legally be carried by Georgia Firearms License holders today.

Guns are a polarizing issue and will evoke a strong emotion response regardless of what side one is on. However, Mr. Wolf (and the Governor) should consider HB89 on its merits and not on the emotions surrounding the “guns” issue.

By PTH

April 29, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this

Here’s something for us to ponder:

During the cold war, the US had a lot of nukes and the Soviets had a lot of nukes. A perceived threat of returned fire kept things at a stand still with NO NUKES being used.

It works the same way with criminals…if there is the possibility that their can be returned fire…they think twice.

By Now ain't that sumthin'

April 29, 2008 2:02 PM | Link to this

Hans, you’re an idiot, but I like you

By Ruger

April 29, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

Guess what, Ronald A. Wolf? There are already people bringing firearms into your restaurants right now! They’re called criminals, and they buy meals, too! I’d like to protect my family, please.

By RW

April 29, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

MT, at 1100 hours, you are on point on each of the issues listed.

Thugs will still carry guns, with no permit issued by the State. Soooo, you have a group of people who have submitted to a background check, passed and receive a CWP. Many of us are ex-military or former police, with prior weapons training.

The entire debate is kind of nuts. The criminals already carry a weapon, almost anywhere they want to. But a law has to be signed to allow citizens who obtained a permit, as required by the state, because alcohol is served at the business.

Has anyone noticed?

Be it Sunday retail sales of beer and wine, or a CWP at a restaurant that serves alcohol , there appears to be a phobia about alcohol in the State of GA.?

By Ruger

April 29, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

Guess what, Ronald A. Wolf? There are already people bringing firearms into your restaurants right now! They’re called criminals, and they buy meals, too! I’d like to protect my family, please.

By Frank Malo

April 29, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this

It is natural that people who have not researched this topic will be nervous about the idea. However, the privilege of carrying in this manner would only apply to Georgia Firearms License holders. To receive such a permit, one must submit fingerprints and undergo a background check. Nationwide statistics on crime rates among permit holders show an infinitesimal violent crime rate among that population. Furthermore, permit holders already have the right to carry in restaurants that don’t serve alcohol.

When Florida started the trend of making carry permits easier to obtain, many predicted shootings would increase. The fact is, every state that allows licensed civilians to carry a concealed weapon has found that 1- licensed owners do not have a propensity to be violent and 2- the general violent crime rate decreases as criminals start avoiding encounters with potentially armed citizens.

Law abiding citizens are not the source of violence in society.

By MSN

April 29, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this

Personal responsibility is up to the individual who carries the weapon, the criminals do as they please. Wake up people!

By Epicurious

April 29, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this

Sounds like members of the Georgia Restaurant Association have too many customers.

By The Snark

April 29, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this

Hey MT! You forgot the third possibility, which is a hell of a lot more likely than the two you cite:

Some crazy person, bursting into a restaurant, is misidentified as a possible threat, and lawful, permit carrying citizens open fire, killing him and half a dozen innocent bystanders. They also kill each other, because once the shooting starts, everyone with a gun looks like a threat.

Next time you’re on the MARTA train or in a restaurant, look around and ask yourself: would I feel safer knowing all of these people are carrying handguns?

By KingTiger

April 29, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this

Snark - I passed a FBI & GBI back ground check to receive my GA Firearms License, can you? I trust GFL holders more so than the average citizen. Yes, I would feel safer, especially on MARTA, and also in state parks and restaurants.

By 2AFan

April 29, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this

Hey Mr. Snark:

Next time you’re on the MARTA train or in a restaurant, look around and ask yourself: would I feel safer knowing all of these people are carrying handguns?

In a word, “yes.”

Here’s a question for you: Next time you’re on the MARTA train or in a restaurant, look around and ask yourself: would I feel safer knowing only the criminals are carrying handguns?

By Hans Apology

April 29, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this

Well!