A new Arizona law allowing people with concealed-weapons permits to carry their guns into bars takes effect today, but many bars are pulling in the welcome mat for them.
The law allows bar and restaurant owners to post signs barring guns, and many are doing just that.
Cathy Warner, co-owner of the Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N. First Ave., said she and Bill Warner, the co-owner and her husband, already have posted "No firearms allowed" signs provided by the Arizona Licensed Beverage Association Inc.
At least a dozen other Tucson bars, informally surveyed Tuesday, either have already posted their no-guns signs — which are printed in a format prescribed by law — or plan to do so soon.
Warner said she and her husband have owned guns for years, but a bar is no place for firearms.
People are also reading…
"I have never thought guns and alcohol mix. I don't care if people walk in and don't have a drink. (But) how do you know that person hasn't already had a drink, unless they're falling down?" Warner said.
She said it's another case of a law that puts a burden on businesses.
"It forces the bar to be some sort of law enforcement. We've got the smoking (law), and now we've got the guns. I think they should have left it the way it was. I think this is opening a can of worms."
"It's always been on our table tents and menus that we don't allow weapons of any kind. Our insurance company won't indemnify us (without the prohibition). And just philosophically, I'm against it. If you read the law, it's really idiotic: You can take a gun into a bar but you can't drink."
Bill Nugent, owner of The Shanty, 401 E. Ninth St.