Guns-in-Bars Law Struck Down in Tennessee

By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II
Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Nashville judge has ruled a law that allows handguns in Tennessee bars and restaurants is unconstitutional.

Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled Friday that the law, enacted earlier this year over the veto of Gov. Phil Bredesen, is "fraught with ambiguity."

She ruled in a suit brought by a group of Tennesseans, many of them restaurant owners. The law allowed handgun permit holders to take their weapons into places serving alcohol, providing the establishment makes more than 50 percent of its profits from food.

There was no immediate word from attorneys for the state about an appeal.

The measure took effect July 14. Thirty-seven states had similar legislation at the time.



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