I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
There are lots of reasons not to allow concealed guns in restaurants that serve beer and wine, restaurant owners and workers told the Independent Monday. They’re concerned about liability, extra training for workers, extra policing and confusion over what the proposed law would allow.
The Independent spoke with restaurant managers across the state on Monday and found that Senate bill 40, sitting on Governor Richardson’s desk waiting for a signature or a veto, was not popular among the people it would affect most.
“I just think it’s a really bad idea,” said John Nardine, the general manager at Upper Crust pizza, a restaurant near the state capitol.
Nardine said such a law would be difficult for his restaurant to deal with.
“I’m concerned about people who are already intoxicated, someone not catching it, and things getting out of control,” he said, “The probability of something like that happening is higher with this law.”
Law would put restaurants in uncomfortable position
If Gov. Bill Richardson signs the bill, restaurant owners who don’t want concealed guns in their restaurants would have to post signs forbidding firearms or tell each customer that guns are not allowed.
But Nardine said that he didn’t want to alienate any of the restaurant’s customers, so he probably wouldn’t post a sign explicitly prohibiting firearms. If the bill becomes law, he would probably have to add extra instruction to employees about concealed carry during their training, he said.
Carrying a weapon into a restaurant or bar that serves liquor, such as Maria’s restaurant on Cordova Road, would still be illegal, but that distinction could create confusion for patrons and restaurant staff.
“The average Joe isn’t aware of the difference between a beer and wine license and full dispensary license,” Al Lucero, owner of Maria’s in Santa Fe told the Independent. ”It would be a case of us asking everyone who comes in ‘Are you 21?’ and ‘Are you carrying a concealed firearm?”
Lucero said the law would be a hassle for restaurant owners.
“We have too many things to police in a restaurant as it is, [including] drunk people [and] underage people trying to drink.” “There’s too much incumbent on a restaurant owner to have another police job for us to do.”
Guns and alcohol together ‘inherently dangerous’
Supporters say that forcing them to leave their guns in their cars leaves the weapons vulnerable to being stolen.
The New Mexico Public Defenders Department agreed, in a response to the bill, that the bill “would make it less likely for handguns to be left unattended in vehicles for criminals to steal and use, and would therefore reduce the number of stolen guns on the street and bring a concomitant reduction in gun crime.”
Lucero says he understood that problem but, “that’s not reason enough to have to make a restaurant owner have to put up with concealed weapons.”
But in its response, the Department of Public Safety opposed the bill, saying, “the introduction of a firearm, legal or otherwise into an environment where alcohol is consumed is inherently dangerous.”
Restaurant Association lobbied against the bill
In addition, the New Mexico Restaurant Association fought against the measure this year and last. As Carol Wight, the executive director of the organization, wrote in an opinion piece on this site:
What if a customer comes into a restaurant with a bulge at their waistline… How do we know it’s not a gun? How do we know they have a license? Do we ask? If they don’t have a license doesn’t that put the server in a VERY awkward position? If they do have a license, are we required to check it?
…What assurances do we have that the concealed carry licensees are better equipped to handle alcohol than the general public? None?
…I do not believe that having a person on premise with a concealed weapon would make anyone feel safer.
In the video below, Lucero explains how he agrees with concealed carry, but finds problems with the proposed law.
Senate bill 40 passed the Senate 27-15, and the House by a 54-12 vote. By law, Gov. Richardson has until March 10th to sign, veto or pocket veto the bill.
