Question about carrying where alcohol is served

I am new to your forum. I found it trying to get some clearer information about carrying in establishments that serve alcohol for on site consumption. Hopefully somebody on this forum can help me here.

I read the Mississippi statute and find it a bit unclear. I will quote the area in question; In 45-9-101 it states it is illegal to carry in "any portion of an establishment, licensed to despense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, that is primarily devoted to the despensing of alcoholic beverages; any portion of an establishment in which beer or light wine is consumed on the premisis, that is primarily devoted to that purpose."

Now to me, the non-lawyer, it seems that by using the words "primarily devoted", it sounds like they are trying to differentiate between bars and restaurants. However I called a person in their Department of Public Safety and spoke with a person in their firearms unit and she stated that their law prohibits carrying in ANY establishment that serves alcohol for on site consumption. I specifically asked if that means places like Ruby Tuesdays, Olive Garden and so on and she said yes, it is illegal to carry in ANY establishment that serves alcohol for on site consumption. To me, the sale of alcohol for on site consumption is not the primary business of such establishments.

So any help any of you can give, I would appreciate it.

And in case some of you may not know, Tennessee, last year, 2010 finally passed their restaurant carry bill. I won't go into all the details of how we finally got it, (two governor veto overrides) but now if you have a handgun carry permit, you can carry in ANY establishment, (restaurant OR bar) as long as the manager/owner/propriator has not posted a weapons ban at the entrance (a international gun with a circle and slash are a legal post) AND you are not allowed to consume any alcohol while you are in possession of your weapon. That is it in a nutshell. It carries some pretty stiff penalties for violations if you are a permit holder. A person without a permit could probably get off lighter depending on the circumstances. Remember in Tennessee, you can not carry a loaded handgun ANYPLACE off your property, including you car, open or concealed without a permit.

That's a good question, and an interesting note about Tennessee. I interpret the law the same way you do, that it means that restaurants which happen to also serve alcohol, like Applebees and such, are ok places to carry. However, the DPS person stating that they are not is interesting. If I had to guess, the DPS person's statement is probably another case of them being uninformed of the laws which they are required to regulate. If it was me, I'd feel comfortable carrying in a restaurant which also serves alcohol, not that I'm advising anyone else to do the same. Make your own decision.

This got batted around not too long ago with lots of opinions. Unfortunately calling the MS DPS doesn't always result in a good answer ( as in the current discussion about House Bill 506). When I was turning in my permit application a few years ago, the lady at the counter asked me why I needed a machine gun. She thought that was the purpose of the permit.

The law as written is kind of vague and the interpretation seems to vary.

Local LEO told me:
If the place is strictly a bar= No carry
If the place is a restaurant= OK to carry in restaurant portion
If the place is a restaurant with a bar= No carry in bar portion
Concealed=Concealed

Of course, this is his interpretation and another officer may feel differently.

Some restaurants are wide open without a partitioned bar portion so I don't know how you'd decipher that, other than "don't sit at the bar".

miker84 wrote:The law as written is kind of vague and the interpretation seems to vary.

Local LEO told me:
If the place is strictly a bar= No carry
If the place is a restaurant= OK to carry in restaurant portion
If the place is a restaurant with a bar= No carry in bar portion
Concealed=Concealed

Of course, this is his interpretation and another officer may feel differently.

Some restaurants are wide open without a partitioned bar portion so I don't know how you'd decipher that, other than "don't sit at the bar".

This is my understanding as well. The DPS has been worthless in the past, and it seems they're becoming even more so as of late.

+1 a bunch what Jake said!!!

"Primarily devoted to such purpose" is key. Applebees is not primarily devoted to alcohol...