NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Judge Rules Guns In Restaurants Law Unconstitutional

Judge Rules Guns In Restaurants Law Unconstitutional

By Nicole Ferguson and Chris Cannon

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Opponents of the so-called guns in bars and restaurant law won their battle in court Friday. 

Nine local restaurant owners filed a petition in August asking for a hearing on an injunction to challenge the law. In court on Friday, a judge found the new state law to be unconstitutional due to vagueness. 

The law, which allows gun carry permit holders to take their weapons into bars and restaurants where alcohol is served, went into effect in July. 

The law will be put on hold until lawmakers return to session in January. Some lawmakers said they would rather focus on the state's budget crisis during the next session, than revisit an issue they spent all last year debating. 

"I really think we should leave this alone, leave guns out of bars and if you have a carry permit leave your gun someplace else," said democratic state senator Thelma Harper. "You don't need it in a bar. The Wild West days are over." 

Nikki Goeser sat front and center during the judge's ruling on what would have been her husband, Ben's 50th birthday. 

Ben Goeser was gunned downed at Johnny's Sports Bar off Nolensville Road in April. His wife, a permit carrying gun owner, left her gun locked up that night. 

"I'm thinking this is a group of people who have never seen something horrible and tragic happen to one of their loved ones," said Goeser. "Of course they don't understand. They've never been through it. I have." 

Goeser is a legislative assistant for republican state representative, Chad Faulkner, a co-signer of the overruled bill who will revisit the debate during the next session. 

"We simply have to define what is a bar, what is a restaurant," said Goeser. "It's going to pass. I'm confident, so I'm not worried about that." 

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen vetoed the guns in bars bill when it first came across his desk earlier this year. Lawmakers had enough votes to override Bredesen's veto and eventually passed the law. 

Bredesen talked about Friday's court ruling after a day of budget hearings on Capitol Hill. 

"I suspect that this still has a long way to play out in the courts and probably in the legislature. So we'll see what happens," said Bredesen. 

John Chaffin owns Chaffin's Barn in Bellevue. He allowed guns in his dinner theater when the law passed in July. Chaffin has a sign in his lobby that welcomes carry-permit holders. 

"Now I will take it [the sign] down for a while, and will probably hold on to it," said Chaffin. 

Like the Governor, Chaffin feels the battle over guns in Tennessee bars and restaurants is far from over. 

Metro police Chief Ronal Serpas issued a statement about the judge's ruling: 

"I support today's decision by Chancellor Bonnyman just as I strongly supported Governor Bredesen's veto of the Guns in Bars bill. While I support the Second Amendment and Tennessee's existing carry permit process, allowing firearms in bars, even with the written stipulation that the gun carrier not drink, is, in my view, a threat to public safety. I note that an MTSU poll showed that 80 percent of Tennesseans disagreed with allowing guns in bars. Simply put alcohol and guns do not mix. The one concern I have about today's ruling is that the Guns in Bars issue will again take center stage during the next legislative session instead of the vitally important issue of keeping convicted felons behind bars. We have asked the Metro Legal Department to provide advice on guns in bars enforcement issues in light of today's court decision."

Email: nferguson@newschannel5.com
ccannon@newschannel5.com