As the man says, if public officials were doing it to private citizens,

it could be 'chilling people's right to speak'; when citizens do it to public officials, that's accountability.
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Firearms Association is seeking to publicly identify each law enforcement officer and prosecutor who attended Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto of a bill to allow people with handgun carry permits to take their weapons into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas said Friday that the move could be seen as an effort to "chill people's rights to speak their opinion."
Well, Chief, if you've got a problem with the people knowing that you supported a bill, or supported a veto, tough; they have a right to know. Especially if you appear in uniform to do so.

It's been kind of amazing to read some of the BS being thrown around about this bill. Changing the law to allow carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol became "THEY WANT TO HAVE GUNS IN BARS! IT'LL BE TERRIBLE!!!" One of the nice things about the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act was this was taken into account from the first: you can't carry into a bar; you can carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol, but you can't drink- or sit in the bar- while there. I think the 'not in a bar' is silly as long as you're not drinking alcohol(designated driver, with a friend, etc.) but they did cover this matter. Which saved us a lot of this nonsense.

Been interesting reading the comments in articles like this. Lots of "I have always been around guns, but there's no reason to have one in a restaurant", which is at least civil, to "You right-wingers have a little penis and this is how you compensate" crap on the opposition side. The fact that robberies and such do happen in restaurants seems to be ignored, or pooh-poohed; and some- usually several- boobs start the "You don't need a gun while you're drinking" crap("Let's ignore that it's still illegal to drink when carrying and use this as a club.")

Back to the basic point, if you're a public official, say a police chief or sheriff, and you publicly support or attack a proposed law, you've got no grounds to bitch that people want to know about it. Period.