Mike set aside his column this month in order to bring you the following letter from Daryl Chester of SixShooters concerning proposed revisions to Senate Bill 1363.

He, as well as many other dart players, bar owners and bar patrons have serious concerns regarding this legislation, that if passed, would allow firearms in businesses that serve alcohol.

Please, guns and alcohol do not mix

To all my Friends, Family and work Associates,

I am sending this to you to let you know what our wonderful Arizona government is doing. They are trying to allow guns in bars and restaurants!

The scary thing is that it is looking like it will pass. The bill's name is Senate Bill 1363. What can I do, You ask?

Please call your representatives and ask them to vote no, or call the Governor's office and voice your displeasure over this bill. The Governor's office number is 602-542-1900.

I really do not want to go out to eat and have to worry about the guy next to me having a weapon. I don't want to have to worry about being shot if I cut someone off on my way to work. Guns and alcohol do not mix!

Please help stop this bill. Thank you for your time and efforts. Please forward this to as many people in Arizona that you can.

I am attaching a letter from Bill Waggle, President of the Arizona License beverage Association that also mirrors my stance.

Thank you,
Daryl Chester
Director of Operations
SixShooters Inc.

Letter to House of Representatives
To: Members of the House of Representatives
From: Don Isaacson, Steve Duffy
RE: SB 1363 (bar licenses; firearms; posted notice)
Date: March 8, 2024

We are writing on behalf of the Arizona Licensed Beverage Association (ALBA) and the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) to respectfully encourage your opposition to SB 1363. SB 1363 would reverse a 20 year-old law that prohibits bringing firearms into establishments that serve alcohol.

SB 1363 would reverse Legislation passed in 1985 that prohibited bringing guns into establishments that serve liquor. That law has served Arizona well and has prevented numerous instances of violence involving weapons. Because the law has been in effect for 20 years, it is now well known that a person cannot bring a weapon into a liquor establishment. In contrast, SB 1363 would change that rule and add confusion, which could potentially open up every liquor-serving establishment to firearms.

A basic fact accepted by both the hospitality industry and the NRA is that guns and alcohol don't mix. The NRA's own website provides:

"Never use alcohol or over-the-counter, prescription or other drugs before or while shooting. Alcohol, as well as any other substance likely to impair normal, mental or physical bodily functions, must not be used before or while handling or shooting guns."

While SB 1363 provides that a person bringing a gun onto a premise cannot consume alcohol, there is no way for a bartender or server to know whether or not someone is carrying a concealed weapon or a weapon that otherwise is not visible to the server.

The NRA has acknowledged in the past that there are certain drinking establishments that are not conducive to guns: sports bars; bars catering to college-age youth and others. On the other hand, ALBA and the FOP acknowledge that there may be venues that are safe, including VFWs, and other types of establishments where the patrons are well known to the management and the patronage is a regular group of individuals.

However, SB 1363 adds uncertainty to every liquor service situation by providing that a person can bring a firearm in unless a sign is posted at the "primary entrance" What is the "primary entrance"? How is a restaurant or country club to know how to enforce the "primary entrance" requirement? Also, at conventions, receptions, weddings, and other large venues there are multiple entrances inject uncertainty into the posting requirement.

Perhaps most significantly, the bill provides that an establishment may post and thereby, provide that weapons cannot be brought onto the premises. It would be very easy therefore, for a person intent on bringing a gun into an establishment to merely say "I did not see the sign" and/or "I came through an entrance where it was not posted" or "the sign was not well-lit" or "someone was standing in front of it," etc. All of these types of situations essentially hand over to the patron the ability to bring a gun in any licensed premises, with the understanding that "I simply did not see the sign."

ALBA and the FOP have opposed Legislation like SB 1363, and has said that if Legislation is going to move forward in this area, any posting requirement should be by affirmative posting; under this approach if an establishment had a sign permitting weapons, the establishment has made a conscious decision that weapons are okay and that they are watching for them; then the only mistake that could be made in a circumstance where posting permits a weapon is to have a person not see the sign and not bring a weapon into a place where they were permitted to do so.

On behalf of ALBA and the FOP, we respectfully encourage your opposition to SB 1363. I would be glad to meet with you personally on this Legislation. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,
Donald G. Isaacson
ISAACSON & DUFFY, P.C.
3101 N Central Avenue, Ste. 740
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-274-2200/Fax 602-230-8487