The widow of a man shot and killed in February outside a downtown Lawrence nightclub thinks the city hasn’t yet done enough to improve downtown safety.

“It seems like we’re going to have another tragedy,” said LaTonia Coleman, the widow of Robert Earl Williams, who was shot early Feb. 5 after attending a hip-hop show at the Granada, 1020 Mass.

Coleman said she decided to speak out after reading comments by city commissioners in a Friday Journal-World article that indicated the city was open to exploring new regulations for bars.

She said shewould work to build support for a city ordinance that would require all Lawrence bars to equip doormen with hand-held metal detectors, much like the ones used by security guards at courthouses and airports.

“There needs to be some kind of city regulation,” Coleman said.

Currently, the city grants licenses to drinking establishments but does not have specific regulations about the type or quantity of security a nightclub must provide.

The idea of requiring hand-held metal detectors in all bars drew mixed reactions from bar operators.

“You know how many things will set one of those off? We’ll have people stripping at the door,” said Rick Younger, an owner of Rick’s Place, 846 Ill. “And if you are going to have it at a bar, you’d better have it at restaurants too because they might drink a little and have a gun.

“And maybe other stores too. Maybe somebody gets mad when they’re shopping for shoes. This is just going from the sublime to the ridiculous.”

Mike Logan, an owner of the Granada, said he’s not sure the devices would address the problems that people are looking to solve. He said he thought it was rare for guns to be brought into clubs. Instead, guns have been more commonly reported in incidents in parking lots or on the streets outside of clubs.

“But obviously as a downtown establishment, we would be more than willing to sit down and talk,” Logan said. “Maybe some good ideas would come out of it.”

Mayor Mike Amyx also said he’s willing to listen, though he said he also thought bars were making good efforts to provide security.

“I’m not sure it is a widespread problem,” Amyx said. “I think it is a situation where we probably have a handful of individuals who are making it rough for everybody else.”

The city did pass an ordinance shortly following the shooting that makes it illegal to possess a firearm or weapon within 200 feet of any drinking establishment.

Coleman thinks current security practices at Lawrence bars could easily cause problems. She said that when she and her husband entered the Granada, they were patted down by a doorman. But she said people who left the club to smoke only had to show their wristbands to re-enter the club.

“What kind of security is that?” Coleman said.

But Logan disputes that assertion. He said his club’s security staff did patdowns of people before they re-enter the club when that process is part of the club’s security.

Logan, though, said there are nights that the club does not do patdowns. He said he uses discretion in determining what events would be appropriate for added security measures.

In the past, Coleman has said she was contemplating a civil lawsuit related to the shooting. She declined to discuss that issue.

Coleman said if city commissioners would not support a metal detector requirement, they should at least require a certain amount of training for all bar security staffs.

“I know for society, my husband’s death is just something that happened,” said Coleman, who continues to live in Lawrence. “For me, it is not just something that happened. I’m not coping very well. I feel like I need to do something to protect everybody else.”