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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Workers mistrust gun honor system
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shannon Lumpkin has been a bartender for seven years.
She knows when a customer needs to be cut off, denied a drink.
But Lumpkin can’t tell when patrons at Barnacles in Norcross are packing a concealed firearm. And it doesn’t matter if they are law-abiding citizens or criminally inclined. What she does know is what experience as a barkeep has taught her - that booze and guns mix terribly.
“Alcohol and ignorance is not a good thing,” said Lumpkin while serving a late lunch crowd.
Starting July 1, Georgians with permits will be legally allowed to carry concealed firearms into restaurants, on public transit and in state parks. Restaurant patrons who carry firearms in purses or under jackets won’t be able to consume alcohol.
Debate over the new legislation has split twixt the usual two camps - the right-to-bear-arms group and gun-control advocates. Nuts exist on both sides. On this issue, the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed weapon rightly prevailed. Supporters say the relaxed restrictions will reduce the crime rate, help protect the public.
Time will tell.
But what good is the law, really, as it relates to safety?
I’ve wondered what the people on the front line in restaurants think about the legislation - those who flip the burgers, pour the shots and serve the wings. So on Wednesday, the Badie Tour stopped by Barnacles in Norcross, and interviewed other employees of the food industry on the telephone.
There appears to be agreement on two things. First, guns and alcohol don’t mix - never, ever. Second, restaurant workers lack faith in the honor system, the belief that gun-toting patrons will pass over the beer list just because to do otherwise would lead to a misdemeanor violation.
That said, no one I talked to expects the state to turn into the Wild, Wild West as a result of the new law, either. Dirty Harry won’t cruise restaurants, hoping some criminal makes his (or her) day. But they doubt that anybody will be notably safer because a customer has secretly packed a firearm away.
“An actual patron bringing in a [concealed weapon] doesn’t sound too advantageous,” said Robert Van Pulley, manager of Hi-Life Kitchen & Cocktails in Norcross. “It sounds like a waste of time to even bring this up as a law, other than that it simply gives gun-owners more freedom, more of a right to bear arms.”
Fred Azadi, owner of Nemoe’s Tavern & Grill in Norcross, condones carrying concealed firearms. He has a permit to do so. He draws the line, though, when it comes to strapped patrons entering establishments like his with a popular bar.
“I like the idea of having it in the parks, on transit, even a restaurant without alcohol,” he told me. “But a couple of guys getting drunk and having a pistol… . .You are walking a fine line. I have mixed feelings.”
So do I.
Whatever opinion you may have on the issue, know this: Guns are out there, everywhere.
“When you go to McDonald’s, or anywhere,”Lumpkin said, “that person in front of you or that person behind you in line can have a weapon.
“But alcohol and guns just aren’t a good thing.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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