Florida shooting range gets green light to sell booze
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona Beach city commissioners have given approval to an indoor shooting range that will include a restaurant that sells alcoholic beverages.
Commissioners raised safety concerns over the mix of alcohol and guns on the same property before voting on the measure on Wednesday night.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Commissioner Ruth Trager was the lone holdout as the questioned the developers about how they'll know whether someone is sober or a felon.
Ron Perkinson told commissioner the group plans to turn the vacant building into an upscale restaurant, not a bar. But he says he needs alcohol sales to make the restaurant profitable. He told commissioners he'll keep a watch list of customers who may cause trouble and will call police when necessary.
"If they're renting a handgun, or if they were bringing their own, they would do the paperwork, scan their ID," Perkinson told CBS affiliate WKMG in June. "(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 told the station that he hopes selling liquor will keep customers in his store after they've gone shooting.
"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," Perkinson said.