Judge tosses Tenn. law on restaurant guns

NASHVILLE, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A new Tennessee law allowing licensed handgun owners to bring their weapons to restaurants that serve alcohol was overturned by a state judge.

Claudia Bonnyman, sitting in Davidson County chancery court, ruled Friday the law is unconstitutionally vague, The Nashville Tennessean reported. She called the statute "fraught with ambiguity."

Before the law took effect July 14, gun owners were not allowed to bring them to establishments that serve alcohol. The law created a distinction between bars and restaurants that had not existed in Tennessee, with a ban still in effect for bars.

Restaurant owners could also institute their own bans.

State Sen. Doug Jackson, a Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said Bonnyman did not question the law's policy effect. He plans to introduce a less-ambiguous bill soon.

Randy Rayburn, a restaurant owner in Nashville and a plaintiff in the litigation, said a recent poll shows overwhelming support for keeping guns out of bars and restaurants.

"Hopefully, the legislature will turn its focus to other, more pressing matters than conflicts between the rights of property owners and those of Second Amendment supporters," Rayburn said.