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Kettering bar owner, Ohio Restaurant Association oppose guns-in-bars bill passed by senate
The Ohio Senate Wednesday voted 25-7 for legislation to permit concealed carry permit holders to take guns into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol as long as they’re not drinking themselves, according to this post by my colleague Bill Hershey.
The senate approval came despite strong opposition from several groups, including the Ohio Restaurant Association. Two Dayton-area bar owners-managers reached Wednesday said they shared that opposition.
“We simply feel that alcohol and guns are not a good mix,” Richard Mason, the restaurant association’s director of governmental affairs, said in a letter to legislative leaders. “We encourage you to vote against this or any proposal that would allow guns in restaurants with liquor permits.”
Mason’s letter reminded legislators that Ohio’s food-service industry is the third largest private sector employer in Ohio, with over 532,000 employees and 21,000 locations that generate more than $500 million in state sales tax revenue.
Todd Hicks, owner of Crocodile Louie’s Sports Bar & Cajun Cafe at 4139 Wilmington Pike in Kettering, called the legislation “just a bad idea.
“We have laws because people can’t police themselves. Now you’re asking people to walk into a bar and police themselves,” Hicks said. “It doesn’t work on the street, and it won’t work in a bar.”
Ohio legislators, Hicks said, “have more important things to spend their time on.”
Stacy Hulshult, manager of Harrigan’s Tavern South at 671 Lyons Road in Washington Twp., said the proposal is unnecessary and would be difficult to enforce.
“One thing can lead to anger, which can lead to violence,” Hulshult said. “It’s absolutely dangerous.”
And the law would put servers and bartenders in a bind, the bar manager said. ““What, I’m going to have to pat you down and see your ID before I can serve you a drink?”
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