Florida: Booze And Gun Range Allowed In Same Building, Is This A Good Idea?

In Daytona Beach, Florida, city commissioners have given approval to an indoor gun range to have a restaurant that also serves booze on the premises. Volusia Top Gun, owned by Ron Perkinson, has been in business for a few years already. Safety issues about having booze and a gun range in the same location were raised by the city commissioners. Perkinson addressed those concerns by telling him about his plan to keep the booze and gun range as safe as possible and why he needed to sell booze anyway.

“If they’re renting a handgun, or if they were bringing their own, they would do the paperwork, scan their ID. (Workers) will be trained to visually look at the person, look at their eyes (and) look at their pupils, just like an officer would.”

Perkinson says that the restaurant will be upscale and that he needs to be able to sell booze in order to make the business profitable. He also states that a list of trouble makers will be kept and that he will call the police whenever necessary to deal with problems. People who will be having drinks at the restaurant will be tracked and not be permitted to use the gun range for 24 hours.

“Guns, whether you’re planning to have a drink afterwards or not, will not be allowed in the café area at all.”

Other states have similar business models where booze and gun ranges exist in the same area. To date, none of these other businesses has had any issues. Rob Gilliland was one of the city commissioners in Daytona Beach, Florida, says, “it is a very unique opportunity.”

Not surprisingly, the booze and gun range plan has critics that believe Perkinson is just asking for trouble by mixing guns and booze. Perkinson addressed those concerns as well.

“To the critics, I say, you’re right. I’m not trying to mix the two. I’m trying to give you a nice meal before you go home. If you choose to have an alcoholic beverage and go home, that’s on you. It’s no different than them leaving here and going to Outback.”

The measure was approved the Florida city commissioners on Wednesday night. Commissioner Ruth Trager was the only one to not vote in favor of the booze and gun range measure.

Do you think that having booze and a gun range in the same building will cause problems? What safety measures would you put in place if you were the owner?

[Image via Newsmax.com]