JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – In an attempt to make Jacksonville Beach safer for residents and visitors, the City Council is looking at a measure that would force restaurants that serve alcohol to close at midnight instead of staying open until 2 a.m.

Mayor Charlie Latham told News4Jax on Friday that bad people do bad things after midnight and hard decisions need to be made to curb the violence after two recent shootings at the beach, including the murder of 23-year-old Leon Bennett.

But local restaurants don't think closing earlier will stop the violence. They think it will hurt business.

"Most of these clubs out here, these bars get their pop between 12 and 1 in the morning. That’s when everyone comes down here and they drink and they party and have fun," said Ashley Steransky, assistant general manager of Sydney Australian Beach Club on First Street North. "The violence that's been happening on this street is going to happen regardless."

Logan Treadwell, who works as a bartender at Ocean Grille and Bar, said shutting down at midnight would hurt business.

“We get a good crowd that comes in around that time, at midnight, and that’s usually when we get our busiest time from, like, 12 to 2," Treadwell said. "So I think if we were to have to shut down at 12 o’clock, it would really hurt the business.”

VIDEO: Residents sound off on proposal

According to city officials, the measure would apply to restaurants with Beer and Wine and Special Restaurant, or SRX, licenses because those are restaurants that sell alcohol with food. It would not apply to bars that have 4-COP licenses.

Latham said the proposed measure “creates a less-inviting environment for people coming to do no good.”

But Treadwell believes city leaders should consider other options.

“I don’t think that because we had a few things happen here that we have to shut down our places when there’s other things that happen at other places," he said.

Jacksonville Beach resident Orhan Skalonjic also wants to hear other options.

“The lawmakers and stuff should think of something better than just to shut the businesses down. I think there's other ways to get around it," Skalonjic said. "The younger folks, we don’t get out here until 11-12 ... that’s really when the party starts.”

There's mixed feelings about the measure. Jacksonville Beach resident, Kaleigh Herrin, said she heard the gunshots that killed Bennett last month.

"It was scary, and I didn’t know how far away the gunshots were. I actually ducked," she said.

Herrin said she trusts the city will make a good decision.

"I think that closing earlier, it might help with the violence because, staying until 2 a.m., people are getting drunk and crazy," she said.

The city plans to hold a workshop in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of closing restaurants at midnight.

The mayor said the city is also looking into increasing security at bars.