Bar Owner Blames Smoking Ban For Rape

The Denver Channel ^ | March 15, 2004 | The Associated Press.

[qam1]

PUEBLO, Colo. -- A Pueblo bar owner says the smoking ban that forced his female employee outside is directly responsible for her rape.

When the woman went outside the Irish Brew Pub for a cigarette break last month, a 33-year-old man attacked her, dragged her into an alley and raped her.

Owner Ted Calantino says people like his employee wouldn't be exposing themselves to dangerous situations if it weren't for the recent smoking ban.

City Councilman Bill Sova says it's inappropriate to blame the ban. He says it should be Calantino's responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe.

That could mean hiring more security and putting up more outdoor lighting.

The two men have been butting heads over the smoking ban since it became an issue.

[qam1]

A sad PING

Way to go Pueblo voters!!!!

[microgood]

He says it should be Calantino's responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe.

Gee, I thought it was the councilman's job to do that.

[Madame Dufarge]

Gee, I thought it was the councilman's job to do that.

I would have thought so, too. After all, he was apparently hell-bent on making everyone "safe" from cigarette smoke.

Now maybe he can devote more of his time to the minor issues, like rape.

[moondoggie]

And, now for the rest of the story.

Now the City Council is fighting back saying the bar owner is responsible for putting spotlights in the alley and providing a safe place for smokers to smoke. Never mind that most of the bar owners are going broke now for lack of business since the smoking ban was implimented:-(

Councilman Bill Sova who is VERY anti-smoking suggested that if the bar owner is "unhappy" then maybe the council should look into starting to close the bars!

What is wrong with this picture???

[GeronL]

OK. Smoking bans are stupid. But the rape is the fault of the rapist.

[Dan from Michigan]

He says it should be Calantino's responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe

It was outside the bar, jackass.

[Drango]

Sob...another victim of those mean ol' smoking bans. Victims of the world unite! If we didn't have smoking bans, we wouldn't have rapes. Sob.

[qam1]

Sob...another victim of those mean ol' smoking bans. Victims of the world unite! If we didn't have smoking bans, we wouldn't have rapes. Sob.

Well this rape wouldn't have happened if there wasn't a smoking ban, But hey at least this employee was protected from secondhand smoke when she was outside smoking cigarette.

[Will_Zurmacht]

Agreed...
The whole smoking ban thing really gets me.
I don't smoke anymore, but If I recall correctly, we smoked in bars. We drank too. So, If I were against drinking and somking and folks who drink and smoke....I'd avoid bars.
But I am a simple man.

Also, when government types start worrying about somking in bars, I can rest easy, because surely they have solved every other problem that faces my community, and are now mopping up nusciances. Because they surely wouldn't be wasting time on this when other, more serious issues are troubling the citizenry.

As a final aside, have you ever noticed how the most do-good touchy feely towns/areas have the worst infrastructure for normal people?
Check any trendy town, college district, or alternative burg. They have co-op groceries, Body piercing studios, Homeless hang outs, vegan restaurants, hate free zones......and I'll be danged if I can find a decent steak or beer in the whole place.....

[lowbridge]

Councilman Bill Sova who is VERY anti-smoking suggested that if the bar owner is "unhappy" then maybe the council should look into starting to close the bars!

What is wrong with this picture???

bump

[Gabz]

WTF is wrong with this a$$hole city councilman???????

I can not imagine how the woman involved feels about the utter contempt this slimeball shows for a constituent, but I do have to say I felt a major gut punch when I read his reaction.

I need to calm down a little bit before I continue.

[Gabz]

Sob...another victim of those mean ol' smoking bans. Victims of the world unite! If we didn't have smoking bans, we wouldn't have rapes. Sob.

What a foul attitude to live with. Blame the victim for the crime - that is just so sick.

[Gabz]

Well this rape wouldn't have happened if there wasn't a smoking ban,...

You're right........and I know of numerous assauls that have occurred on people that have had to leave an establishment in Delaware.....they may not make the newspaper - but they sure as he!! have occurred.

[Will_Zurmacht]

Yep, it's your own fault if you get raped on the city streets....you were askin for it..SMOKER!

The audacity of this clown. And where's the NOW gang when you need 'em?...wait, lemme guess, this fool is a democrat.
Oh well, he won't protect her on the streets, but at least she can get an abortion, as long as there is no smoking in the O.R.

I'm getting tacky, better shut up

[Gabz]

They have co-op groceries, Body piercing studios, Homeless hang outs, vegan restaurants, hate free zones......and I'll be danged if I can find a decent steak or beer in the whole place.....

You just described the entire state of Delaware!!!!!!!! And people wonder why I left there :)

[Gabz]

You're not getting tacky - you're just stating the facts.

I was in Delaware last week - Tuesday night I was in an establishment that has beaten 2 citations for smoking ban violations. Wednesday night I enjoyed a very pleasant dinner and evening alone at my SIL's house (where I was staying) because I was not going somewhere where I would have to go outside if I chose to have a cigarette.....at least at my SIL's house her backyard is fenced in and therefore what I would consider safe.

My SIL, like you, is a former smoker - but not a fanatic about it. She hates the smoking ban in Delaware as much as I do. She sees it for what it is - an infringement on private property rights. Even though she has said it is OK - I will not light a cigarette inside of her home and no other of her smoking friends will do it either.

It's a simple thing called mutual respect.

[GeronL]

They have co-op groceries, Body piercing studios, Homeless hang outs, vegan restaurants, hate free zones......

I'd much rather have free enterprise.

[Ciexyz]

I agree with the bar owner on this one. It seems stupid to force an employee to step outside into a back alley where she/he risks being dragged away and raped.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Ugh... the woman works at a bar.

[Mears]

Good lord,Will---You just described Amherst and Northampton in Massachusetts.

[Drango]

Blame the victim for the crime

I blame the rapist...who are you blaming?

[Humidston]

I remember the time (when I was a smoker) that I was forced outside the Dallas airport to smoke at 11:30 PM, where I shared a dark space with two teenage males, in order to grab a couple of puffs between flights. Thank heavens they weren't dangerous!

I think airports especially should be put on notice that when they force lone females outside in the dark, they should assume some liability for their safety.

[Humidston]

You smokers will be happy to know that CA is now going to ban smoking ON THEIR BEACHES. I saw some clown from the Lung Assoc. on TV today - stating second hand smoke "falls" back down to earth and "poisons" the air of non-smokers, thereby putting them in serious danger!

If it wasn't so idiotic and absurd it'd be laughable.

[Gabz]

Reread your post to which I responded.

You obviously have never met a bar/restaurant employee or patron that has been assaulted because they were required to go outside to have a cigarette. I have.

The weather in California is a bit more accommodating to outdoor dining/drinking than it is in Delaware, New York or Maine, or Pueblo, Colorado.

Of course the rapist is to blame, but if there was no smoking ban in effect the victim of this rapist would never have had to go outside and therefore would have most likely not become his victim. The ban is complicit in this crime, without doubt.

[Drango]

The ban is complicit in this crime, without doubt.

Do you also blame SUV's for road rage or is it the idiot drivers? How about people murdered with a pistol? Is the evil gun responsible or is the fool who pulls the trigger?

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

Do you also blame SUV's for road rage or is it the idiot drivers? How about people murdered with a pistol? Is the evil gun responsible or is the fool who pulls the trigger?

If you can't see the difference yet, look closer. It's beyond idiotic to make women stand alone outside of bars late at night just to have a smoke. It's dangerous.

[Gabz]

Please learn to read.

[Gabz]

Thank you.

Whether one is a smoker or not - the idea of forcing women who do smoke outside without some modicum of safety is ridiculous.

And considering it is the government that has created this danger - it is the government that is responsible for the safety of those forced to abide by it. The owner of the establishment, who most likely opposed the idiocy to begin with, should not be held responsible.

[NautiNurse]

Do you also blame SUV's for road rage or is it the idiot drivers? How about people murdered with a pistol? Is the evil gun responsible or is the fool who pulls the trigger?

Drango, your analogy is skewed. When smokers are forced to stand in the middle of the road or in front of the target at the shooting range, it is silly to blame an SUV or a gun for the inevitable results.

[richmwill]

I still don't see much blame for the actual rapist on this thread, which is very scary. Also, who's to say the attacker wouldn't have waited for the lady as she left the bar to go home? It's not like if she had been able to smoke inside the bar she would have NEVER had to leave the bar again.

[Hell to pay]

Here is a recent letter to the editor in the Pueblo Cheiftain.

Sova is out of touch

Regarding (City Councilman Bill) Sova's responses to the smoking ban and the concerns of Irish Pub owner Ted Calantino's concerns, Sova says: "The general nature of bars compromises public safety more than forcing smokers outside to partake in tobacco." And, "Maybe it's (Calantino's) responsibility to take additional steps for safety - adding lights or hiring additional security. He should be accountable for having a well-lit, safe area for those people who still choose to smoke." And, "Maybe we need to cut down the number of bars." And regarding the number of bars and police officers per-capita in Pueblo, "I think there's a correlation there. We're spending a lot of taxpayer money to baby bar owners that allow unruly behavior. I feel it's a waste of taxpayer money to do that when police could be out doing more community-minded endeavors."

Sova has his head in the sand or somewhere again. Does he not know that rapes, beatings and sexual assaults have taken place in parking lots of restaurants, malls, discount stores, schools, collage dorms, homes and motel rooms throughout Pueblo and other cities? Who's that basketball player that's been in the news for a while now? Or did Sova miss that one? Do all these places need more lights and need to hire additional security and do we "need to cut down the number" of these businesses?

Is there a "correlation" between these businesses and police officers "per-capita" in Pueblo? A lot of taxpayer money is being spent to "baby" crimes in the streets, domestic disputes, drugs, holdups and burglaries. A whole lot more taxpayer money is spent in those areas than on a bar owner, or any business owner, being forced to send employees and customers into the streets.

It wasn't Calantino's choice to send his employee out of a safe environment that night. They were obeying the "law." But how does Sova put it? According to The Chieftain article, "Sova, a vocal supporter of the anti-smoking ordinance, said the 'incident' has not changed his opinion that the ban has been a 'success'." The "incident." My God. A woman is raped and beaten and he calls it an "incident." What a man of compassion. The smoking bans "success" has a higher priority with him. For a "doctor" that's some bedside manner.

To my customers and those of other bars who are blue collar workers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, women who work and are the glue that holds our families and lives together and every other cross section of worker in Pueblo, this is what Bill Sova thinks of you if you go to your favorite bar to relax and enjoy the company of your friends. From the Chieftain article, I quote Bill Sova, "If these are the kinds of people that frequent these establishments and constitute their patrons - you know, the gang element and troublemakers - then maybe those places shouldn't be open." He is so out-of-touch and has no idea of all the wonderful people of Pueblo who are bar patrons as well as his patients.

Dan Wolf Pueblo

[Gabz]

What I would like to say about this Sova guy would get me banned from Free Republic.............

I'm very impressed with the paper that publiched that letter, and with the writer of it.

[Great Dane]

OK. Smoking bans are stupid. But the rape is the fault of the rapist.

We know that, but the smoking ban puts smoking employees more at risk.

[cherry]

As we drove thru Pueblo, was it may imagination but isn't it quite a poor town?.....

anyway, the true and real blame is neither the bar owner or the ban on smoking....it rests with the animal rapist that probably can't get it any other way except force....

I am vehemently anti-smoking except even I know that the most fun people are smokers......

go to a dance club or bar and you will notice...the ones smoking are having the most fun.....

[Great Dane]

Please go away, far far away.

[montag813]

He says it should be Calantino's responsibility to ensure his employees and patrons are safe. That could mean hiring more security and putting up more outdoor lighting.

In other words, another tax.

[snowstorm12]

If you're a woman and you work at a bar and go outside by yourself, you're putting yourself at high risk. I definately think she should've taken a buddy. Nobody forced her outside, she chose to go outside alone. Most ladies ask if someone will escort them to their car at night if you ask the security.

[Clock King]

This whole country needs new government NOW!

[cyborg]

from your lips to god's ears

[hunter112]

If we didn't have smoking bans, we wouldn't have rapes.

We'll have a chance to test that theory here in Washington, the state announced it is going to ban smoking in all 12 of its state prisons (one is nonsmoking right now). There have been news reports about lifers claiming it isn't fair.

I just feel sorry for the correctional officers who have to deal with thousands of society's worst misfits (you have to REALLY screw up to get prison time in this state) all having simultaneous nicotine fits. It might make sense to wean them off of it gradually if they're going to do it at all.

[philetus]

Most of the people who push the smoking bans could care less if a bargirl gets raped.

[LisaMalia]

This is sad. Not just the smoking aspect of it, but the fact that woman was raped. However, the bar owner makes a good point.

Had she not been forced out in a dark place to take her smoke break, the rape would not have happened. Although I'm against frivolous litigation, I would say a HUGE lawsuit is in order in this instance.

[Gabz]

You're kidding, right? You are not truly trying to lay the blame on the victim here, are you?

[Hell to pay]

This establishment is one of the better downtown restaurants also. The woman was likely one of the waitresses.

[snowstorm12]

Nope, just saying it's a bad idea to go outside alone late at night.

[Gabz]

If there was no smoker ban, this woman would not have been outside and not been placed in such a situation.

[snowstorm12]

Yeah but that doesn't mean she was forced outside. She could've accepted the ban and waited to have a cigarette in a safe place after work. It would've been just as stupid if she went outside alone to get some fresh air outside on break.

[cartoonistx]

You know, I'm old enough to remember when liberals smoked as a sign of solidarity with their Democrat tobacco-farmer brethren. When the South stopped being solid for the Dems that's when the smoking nazis arose!

[SheLion]

Sob...another victim of those mean ol' smoking bans. Victims of the world unite! If we didn't have smoking bans, we wouldn't have rapes. Sob.

Hi little boy! I thought you had to be 18 to post on FR!