by As a native North Carolinian, it galls me to have to say that the folks in Tennessee are more enlightened about anything. However, when it comes to where you can carry concealed legally, Tennessee has it all over North Carolina. They approved a bill in the last year or so allowing concealed carry in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. Of course, if you are carrying concealed you can’t drink – nor should you – but you can still eat in the restaurant or socialize with your friends.
This change in the law has the gun puritans in a tizzy. They have formed a group called GunFree Dining Tennessee. This group seeks to “educate” restaurant owners about concealed carry in restaurants and bars. They send out “street teams” to meet with owners and encourage them to post their premises against concealed carry. Now if a private property owner wishes to ban concealed carry on his or her property, that is their right and I have no objection to it.
Part of the requirements to prohibit concealed carry in your restaurant includes posting a visiable and recognized sign on all entrances. WizardPC of Walls of the City blog did some legwork around Nashville to see if they were following this requirement. As you may have guessed, it was sporadic at best. My guess is that a lot of owners just wanted to placate the “street teams” from Gun Free Dining Tennessee and told them what they wanted to hear. Read the whole story on Walls of the City to get a better feel for the law and posting requirements. The bottom line is that if it isn’t correctly posted, then you aren’t breaking any laws.
H/T Sebastian
