Arizona allows guns in bars. Should any place be off-limits?
Starting Wednesday, Arizona citizens with a concealed weapons license can bring guns into bars. It is no nod to the Grand Canyon State鈥檚 Wild West beginnings. It is part of a national trend.
Arizona will be the to let bar patrons pack heat (only if they鈥檙e not drinking alcohol, however). Meanwhile, the list of places where gun owners can bring their weapons is growing, as the gun lobby increases pressure on statehouses and Congress to broaden Second Amendment rights.
鈥淭he trend over the last 20 years is more freedom in most states for individuals to carry guns,鈥� says Robert Cottrol, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington.
The issue took on even greater importance Wednesday when the US Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments as to whether a Chicago handgun ban violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The case could have implications for all local gun restrictions, which have been a central tenet of gun control.
Arizona
Arizona鈥檚 鈥済uns in bars鈥� law follows closely on the heels of its so-called 鈥減arking lot鈥� law, which took effect Tuesday. It allows licensed gun owners to store guns in locked cars, even if they鈥檙e on someone else鈥檚 private property.
鈥淓ach person has the constitutional right to bear arms in order to defend themselves and their family while going about the normal course of their lives,鈥� wrote Doug Little, the founder of the Armed Personal Defense Institute in Ariz., on .
鈥淭he 鈥榩arking lot law鈥� restores a right to an employee that their employer took away from them by prohibiting them from bringing a firearms with them to work and storing it in their vehicle,鈥� he adds.
Congress
Beyond Arizona, Congress voted earlier this summer to allow concealed weapons in national parks. Last week, the Senate voted to allow guns in the checked baggage of Amtrak trains, that it would produce 鈥渘umerous challenges.鈥�
While guns are allowed in the checked luggage of airplanes, on broad its trains since 9/11.
鈥淎mericans should not have their Second Amendment rights restricted for any reason, particularly if they choose to travel on America鈥檚 federally subsidized rail line,鈥� said Sen. Roger Wicker (R) of Mississippi in a statement.
Other states
In Arkansas, state Rep. Beverly Pyle proposed allowing guns inside places of worship earlier this year. It seems as though , but the issue is percolating.
Ken Pagano, a pastor in Kentucky, in June sponsored a bring-your-guns-to-church day.
鈥淕od and guns were part of the foundation of this country,鈥� Mr. Pagano .
Going forward, gun owners hope to make sure that no place will be off-limits.
鈥淢y guess is that too that the extent that there are restricted spaces, there will be a movement to push against that,鈥� Professor Cottrol says.
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