Thursday, July 16, 2009
Crazy Crap / Law and Order / Legislature / Silverman Hats Off to Tootsie's Owner for Manning Up to the Guns-in-Bars Crowd
Posted by Jack Silverman on Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 7:13 AM
We've never had nobody seriously injured at Tootsie's, and I don't want to start gambling now by starting to allow guns in the place.For Smith, who says he expects to lose a few customers, clearly sanity has prevailed over greed. But what's really striking about Tootsie's policy is this: Arguably the most legendary honky-tonk in Nashville (and the country), Tootsie's is a mecca for the hardworking, salt-of-the-earth, God-fearing, patriotic, hunting-and-fishing crowd that comprises the bulk of country music fans. And even Tootsie's thinks this is a bad idea! We're not talking about F. Scott's or some effete martini bar here. Though I favor pretty strong gun-control legislation, I can respect and understand the views of folks who are concerned about too much restriction on their right to bear arms (within reason), just as I can respect the views of many pro-lifers (assuming they don't kill people and bomb clinics), even though I'm pro-choice. But the folks who backed the guns-in-bars legislation have essentially made the entire Second Amendment crowd look like a bunch of raving lunatics, much the same way Sarah Palin (and the folks who attended her rallies mumbling about Barack Obama being an Arab) hijacked the Republican Party during the presidential election, marginalizing the party's saner factions and turning it into a laughingstock. Perhaps the ultimate irony is that, prior to the law passing, the gun nuts could have brought their weapons into Tootsie's, albeit illegally, and no one would have been the wiser. Now they're screwed, and some of them will likely boycott the place. Their loss--if the place was/is good enough for Roger Miller, Webb Pierce, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline and Kris Kristofferson, it's good enough for me. Of course, if we knew that every saloon shootout would lead to an awesome Elvin Jones drum solo, we might could get behind this whole dang guns-in-bars thing...
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
After about a month of wanding and they realize they are getting zero hits they are really going to be kicking themselves for paying all that money for wands.
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Why would somebody choose of their own free will to go an establishment that invades their privacy and treats them like a criminal the moment they walk through the door?
After about a month of wanding and they realize they are getting zero hits they are really going to be kicking themselves for paying all that money for wands.
Imagine the price of having someone gunned down. Then the wands will have looked cheap by comparison.
Why would somebody choose of their own free will to go an establishment that invades their privacy and treats them like a criminal the moment they walk through the door?
Perhaps because Tootsie's is primarily a very loud drinking establishment. It's easier to check people at the point of entry rather than asking them if they're strapped before you hand them a beer.
"Tootsie's is a mecca for the hardworking, salt-of-the-earth, God-fearing, patriotic, hunting-and-fishing crowd that comprises the bulk of country music fans."
Yeah right.... I suppose that's why they charge $4.50 for a PBR!
Tootsie sucks. Its a tourist trap with shitty music. Fuck that place and The Nashville Scene.
I smoke. I drink. I own guns. I vote.
I don't miss taking my money into Tootsie's one bit. They obviously are doing well enough to not need my business.
To Jack Silverman: I doubt Willie, Waylon, or Patsy would enter Tootsie's today. A BAR that didn't allow smoking???? Patsy would have sat in her car!!
With these new laws, I see lower Broad becoming what it was 50 years ago soon... namely a place to go find a hooker or a homeless person. I hope the owner of Tootsie's enjoys the downward spiral of his business. I'll stay home and keep my money in my pockets.
The real question here is why an effiminate, panty-waist liberal like Silverman thinks he can get away with using a phrase like "manning up".
Gilbert,
Perhaps he can use that phrase because he, and evidently Mr. Smith, don't need to pack a big gun in order to show their manhood.
Just supposin'
don't need to pack a big gun in order to show their manhood.
But you should see him slingin' a guitar.
Awww, thanks Andy!
And Gilbert, I prefer to think of myself as a metrosexual panty-waist liberal.
I personally think carrying a gun into a bar is foolish. I own guns but would not carry into a bar myself as I think alcohol + firearms = 10 feet tall and bulletproof.. a BAD combo!
With that being said, my problem is with the laws and restrictions on personal freedom. Just like the "Guns in Parks" law, who are these people kidding?? I watch the news every morning just like you do.. Do the people sponsoring these laws think they will REALLY make any difference??
The people I see on the morning news shooting and stabbing each other could give a shit less what the law says. They never have bothered to obey the existing law (it IS already illegal to shoot or stab someone...isn't it?) so these laws will do nothing except keep already honest people..honest! We REALLY needed legislative action on THAT..didn't we??
Gilbert,
I'm a liberal and also I'm a Vet and a Marine. It's stupid comments like yours why your party is going down hill!
The people of TN don't want guns in parks or bars and you and your backward party are the minority. No matter how much money you throw at your issues people still won't get behind it!
OOPS! I'm new at this... didn't mean for that last comment to be anonymous. I really said it. I meant it too! If the police and the legislature would spend the money WE send them enforcing the laws ALREADY on the books, new ones wouldn't be needed.
I am not the marine. I am the anon poster who thinks carring guns into bars is foolish. Sorry!
I just think that if you can't handle a bar fight with your own two fists, you shouldn't be going to bars. Call me old fashioned, but if you don't feel safe without a firearm you're a pussy, plain and simple. Guns are the refuge of cowards -- grow a sack and pout up your dukes.
Jack - you're not so much a metrosexual panty-waist liberal, more like one of the condescending Ivy-League elite godless "gotcha" media liberals.
"Gilbert,
Perhaps he can use that phrase because he, and evidently Mr. Smith, don't need to pack a big gun in order to show their manhood.
Just supposin'"
Nope.
That has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it one way or the other.
The determining factor is the degree to which one refrains from a lot of shrill squealing about the choices that other people make - seeing as how there is virtually no aspect of anyone else's existence on this earth that was ever legitimately any of YOUR business in the first place.
All the shrill squealer liberals on this blog fail that test over and over again.
And enough of these comments about me "showing my manhood." It was just a misunderstanding about a zipper malfunction, and I was cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter, though the restraining order is still in place.
But I thought you gave me that $100 bucks for the "hand release"? Or are we talking about a different time?
"...there is virtually no aspect of anyone else's existence on this earth that was ever legitimately any of YOUR business in the first place."
There are plenty of examples where people choose to do things with their existence that makes them part of your business. The service industry is huge here and in much of the world because other people DO matter. Your worldview is based too much on disliking people for it to jive with things like reality.
If my gun is not welcome in an establishment then neither am I. I'll keep my money, my freedom and my guns. "Tootsie's" won't be getting my change.
Poor Tennesseans...
Millions of CCW holders across dozens of states have carried into restaurants and bars for decades now and none of the doom and gloom and blood on the floor scenerios have come to pass like all the folk are predicting here.
If you all want to explain to the world that your residents are less apt, less moral, less ethical, and less bright than almost everyone else in America, including even Hoosiers, more power to ya. I certainly won't stop you.
So will "The Wanders" be packing?? What will everyone do when a "Wander" discovers a person with a pistol and that person pulls it out and starts shooting at everyone in sight??? Unless someone else in that (it sounds to me like a raunchy) place has a weapon, it looks to me like there will be a lot of squealing as people trample one another trying to get away from the shooter. After the smoke clears,the bodies removed,and the floors cleaned, I hope someone gets an attorney to sue the arse off Mr Twinkletoes for failure to protect his customers. It only has to happen one time.
Oh me, oh my, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Oh my shaking knees, we have pee'd and crapped our pants in fright at those knuckle draggers that take responsibility for themselves, oh woe is we! The media hasnt printed the law for us to read, so it must be true then what they say. The media say that this new law allows those hideous monsters who own guns to drink when they carry their weapons! Besides, the media is surely correct that the we people need not be concerned with the details, they will tell us what we need to know! Where is that pile of sand so we can bury our heads in and hide? Where is the guberment to come hold our hand and protect us all? After all, our proud, all knowing media has cried wolf at this outrageous reduction in law, so that criminals will now be endangered as well. Oh woe is we, woe is we. The Media cries out that we are traveling back in time and the wild west exists again, surely it must be true because the media never lies, oh woe is we, oh woe is we! Yes these are such dangerous times as our completely trustworthy and socialistic guberment and media surely have all the data to support their claims of impending violence, so it must be true, oh woe is we. Arent we all glad we have such worthy protectors of our safety?
Signed Chicken Little, the boy who cried wolf, and the ostrich!
So, does Tootsies now take total responsibility for the safety of ALL of their patrons from the time they leave their gun at home until they return to it after visiting that establishment?
If you are going to ban self defense, you had best be ready to provide security to all those you have disarmed.
Tootsies raunchy? That's totes roflcopter. Can I get a quick show of hands from the pro-gun folks, just to see how many of you actually live in a city? How many of you are hiding in the hills worrying about your "safety", rather than, say, dealing with the harsh reality of interacting with people that are different than you?
Just wondering where all this fear and lothing is coming from, because as far as I can tell this is a really safe city. Well, west of the river anyway...
I'm an NRA member. Tootsie's policy makes some sense. Gun-free zones need to be truly gun-free, otherwise it is an on-your-honor system that will yield shootings just like Luby's in Texas and Virginia Tech. The best way to do this is with limited access, comprehensive searches, and armed police - like airports and some government buildings. Deploying guards with metal detectors gets you a little bit more than half-way there, it's a good start.
Gun-allowed zones are fine - everyone is equal. Enforced Gun-free zones are fine - everyone is equal there too. Unenforced "Gun-free" zones are an invitation to disaster (re NIU, VT, Luby's, Long Island Railroad, Columbine, etc.). They allow a single law breaker to have a huge advantage over everyone else.
This has nothing to do with the safety of the bar patrons. People with concealed carry permits are not permitted to carry and drink. So, the bar owner wants only people who can drink in their bar. They'd rather put drunk drivers on the road than allow someone to protect themselves. What idiots!
I got an idea! Why don't we take all the folks that can't get in the bar because they're packing, sit outside and shoot drunk drivers, so we'll all be safe!!! It's, like, you know, a compromise!!!
And again, if you think you need a gun to protect yourself in a bar then you should not be going into a bar in the first place. If you feel that you cannot protect yourself with the tools that God gave you when you popped out the womb, then you need to stay at your house and wait for that home invasion Brinks Security and the NRA have gotten you all worked up about.
Seriously folks, if you can't protect yourself mano-e-mano, if you aren't confident enough in your own skills with your own limbs to handle the relatively low threat level of your neighborhood drinking establishment, just stay at home and watch your Walker Texas Ranger DVDs.
Guns might be your thing, but bars are my thing and I don't want your fear and paranoia trampling my right to get drunk and talk shit without getting shot. (LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not exclusive to the locked-n-loaded crowd, thank you very much). If you don't think that the staff at a drinking establishment is competent enough to keep the crowd in order sans firearms, don't go there. If you don't think the crowd is able to control itself and maintain order, don't go there. Nobody is making you go to the bar.
Seriously, if you don't think you're safe in this city's fine drinking establishments, stay at home with your guns and your fear.
But if you are going out, don't forget to tip your bartender. Kevlar vests are expensive.
If you're shallow, obese, or merely looking for a quick fuck, I am N-O-T for you. Looking for friends whose company
can be enjoyed in any setting, including, but not limited to, the bedroom.
Email me stargazincdesign@gmail.com
xoxo
Lisa
Bawston Sean wrote:
"Seriously folks, if you can't protect yourself mano-e-mano, if you aren't confident enough in your own skills with your own limbs to handle the relatively low threat level of your neighborhood drinking establishment, just stay at home and watch your Walker Texas Ranger DVDs."
So according to you, folks with birth defects, crippling injuries, smaller, weaker, older should just stay at home? Thanks for the compassion, you tool. Why don't you walk into the nearest VFW post and tell all the vets that?
Or, you could just STFU and stop spewing ignorant filth on the web. What a friggin' Key-board Kommando.
If the "folks with birth defects, crippling injuries, smaller, weaker, older" want to come out and drink, all power to 'em, I'm buying shots. (But it'll have to be well shots, cuz I'm pretty broke.)
I have no problems with the differently-abled - some of my best drinking buddies over the years have fallen outside normative standards of physicality but, if they didn't feel safe in a certain place they just didn't go there. They didn't bring a weapon for "protection", they just acted like rational adults and avoided the places that made them feel unsafe.
Nobody is forcing anybody to fight to just to get a drink, but if you think you really need to "defend" yourself, then do it yourself and not with a mechanical proxy.
This is America, and nobody is forcing you to go to a bar, able-bodied or otherwise.
Take my friend Larry (R.I.P.) for instance - he was paralyzed from the neck down after a motorcycle accident. That didn't stop him from going to (chair-accessible) dive bars or from running his mouth after half a beer. He would talk as much shit as any other rabble-rouser would, regardless of the fact that he was bound to a wheelchair. He didn't have enough motor function to hold a pen, but he didn't let that stop him from going to the very places where some folks insist that they need "protection", and he was causin' trouble with the best of them.
In contrast, there's Heather, who was a close friend's roommate and a fixture in my early days as professional drunkard. Heather is one of the most beautiful girls you will ever lay eyes on - as close to perfection as the female form gets. But she doesn't have arms -- like the Venus De Milo made flesh, only hotter and really, really smart. Obviously it was a complicated situation - dudes were all about her all the time, but dudes can be real shady. She would go out to the bars all the time, but she was very discerning about which bars she would go to. She stuck to the high-end joints and places where she knew the staff; avoided fratty meat markets and crowded dives. She didn't go where she didn't feel safe, plain and simple. Rather than worry about "protection" she avoided the potentially dangerous situations.
Nobody should be turned away from the bar based on the way that their body may or may not work. But if anyone, as adults operating under their own free will, doesn't feel safe in a drinking establishment without a firearm then they shouldn't be in that establishment to begin with -- it's the easiest path to self-preservation and security for all involved. You don't have to throw punches to take a seat at the bar, but you do have to take responsibility for the decisions you, as an adult under your own free will, make. And then deal with the consequences there of -- ya know, like a person that is old enough to drink a beer and own a gun.
Again, this is America and there's no law that forces you to go to the bar - if something bad happens deal with it like an adult. Give up the adolescent fantasy that you and your gun are going to save the day when the bad, bad boozers get out of control and leave your guns at home if you want to tie one on in a public place.
And as for the dudes at the VFW? It was my grandfather, a Navy diver in the Pacific Theater during WWII (U.S.S. McGinty), that told me only a coward needs a gun to keep himself safe in this country. And I'm gonna follow his lead, seeing as how he spent four years on the bottom of the ocean, diffusing Japanese mines, defending your right to be an arms-bearing asshole.
I have no problem with guns as a tool - fuck, is there anything tastier than a freshly killed game bird? - it's just the spineless little shits that insist that they have to bring their guns everywhere. Nobody would let me get shit-house drunk and go to the shooting range - cause that's fucking stupid and we all know it - so why do people think it would work the other way around, with folks taking the guns to the domain of intoxication? I'm pretty sure there's a Psalm about everything having it's place and what not, and I'm totally sure that it applies here but I'm allergic to the Bible and I'm all out of Benadryl.
If you can't handle going out in public without being strapped, you've got bigger problems than any weapon can solve and hiding behind the "folks with birth defects, crippling injuries, smaller, weaker, older" just drives that point home.
And you're probably no good in a fight anyway.
Just sayin'.
Big Hugs and Kisses,
Your Kommie-lovin' Karl-Marxin' Key-Board Kommando
