The Tennessee Senate voted 24-6 to allow individuals with handgun permits to carry their weapons into establishments that serve alcohol, including bars and restaurants, WTVF-5 in Nashville reported Jan. 16.

However, the law stipulates that an individual carrying a gun cannot drink alcohol, and individual business owners still have the right to ban weapons from their property.

Bill sponsor Sen. Doug Jackson said that Tennessee should join 34 other states that allow permit-holders to carry handguns into businesses where alcohol is served. Tim Calhoun, a musician, cast the vote as a victory for self-defense.

"As Virginia Tech has proven any place with a large gathering of people is the exact place where some idiot might come in and do a lot of damage," he said. "If I'm somewhere with my wife and kids and something happens and I have the right to do that and I don't have it with me, something happens to my wife and kids I don't think I could live with myself."

Others said they would feel less secure knowing that someone in the crowd at a bar or nightclub might be carrying a gun. "I don't feel safe knowing somebody could come in here with a concealed weapon and shoot the place up," said Shawna Sessions, a bartender at Tootsie's in Nashville.