Liquor laws
State laws are usually interesting. Tam has a bit on Indiana’s. Tennessee’s are all kinds of messed up.
You can buy beer. In some counties. On a Sunday, in some of those some counties. You can get it at the grocery store, even on Sundays in some counties. And some counties where you can’t buy beer on Sunday, you can buy beer by the drink at restaurant.
You can buy liquor. In some counties. But never on a Sunday. Unless it’s in a drink at a restaurant. But none that you can take home. You cannot get it in a grocery store ever. Only a liquor store.
You can buy wine. In some counties. You can buy it in a grocery store. On a Sunday, you can’t buy it anywhere. And I laugh when I’m at the grocer on a Sunday and all the lights on the wine aisle are turned off but the beer right next to it is for sale.
Liquor stores used to not be able to sell any beer unless it was above a certain alcohol content. And they could not sell food, mixers, or any product that didn’t contain some percentage of alcohol. Now, they can.
Our alcoholic beverage laws are among the dumbest, most illogical around.
April 4th, 2017 at 5:39 pm
“The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. ” –Tacitus, Roman Historian
Also ironic that certain beverages are not allowed on Sunday considering that the Bible teaches that we are free in regard to what days we choose to observe or not observe. (Romans 14:5-6) and not to judge others’ good and drink (Colossians 2:16) and that “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. (I Corinthians 6:12) but as politicians ignore their State and U.S. Constitutions so fi religious Christians ignore the Scriptures….because they both fear Liberty!
April 4th, 2017 at 5:57 pm
Texas: You can buy beer, if the county and city allows it, in grocery stores. You have to buy it between 7am and midnight, unless it’s Saturday, when you until 1am, or Sunday, when you can’t get beer until after noon. This applies even if the store has longer hours (or is 24 hours.)
If the county and city allow liquor stores, you can buy beer and liquor there, but they have to open at 10am and close at nine, and can’t open on Sunday, even for beer.
You can buy beer and liquor at a restaurant or bar, but they have to keep the same hours as a grocery story, except you can serve beer at 10am on Sunday if you sell it with food. There’s a special late hours permit to serve until 2am. You can also sell beer at 10am on a Sunday in Texas if you are a “sports venue” (aka The Cowboys Rule.) Festivals, fairs and concerts also get this rule. Certain airports also get exceptions based on city size and dates of certain votes (to make sure it only applies to that airport.)
Note — if you really need a drink at 7am on a Sunday, you can always get on a flight, where the FAA says drink up.
This also effects your Carry Permit rules. You can carry into a place that serves alcohol, if they derive less than 51% of their revenue from alcohol, as long as you aren’t drinking. There’s signage that’s required to be on the door if they are a bar (defined as 51%+ of the revenue coming from alcohol sales) known as the “Red 51” that warns you if you have a permit.
Stupidest result of these laws I’ve ever seen? The red 51 on the wall at the wine bar in SAT… inside the Secured Area, right past the TSA stand.
April 4th, 2017 at 6:00 pm
The Red 51:
http://images.mysecuritysign.com/img/lg/S/red-51-percent-handgun-sign-s2-0988.png
The Blue Sign that says, “pack em if you’re licensed and sober.”
http://images.mysecuritysign.com/img/lg/S/handgun-warning-blue-sign-s2-0990.png
April 4th, 2017 at 6:25 pm
“Our alcoholic beverage laws are among the dumbest, most illogical around.”
Take a trip north to PA, you might change your mind.
April 4th, 2017 at 9:12 pm
In Wyoming we have drive thru liquor stores but no sales in grocery stores unless it is a completely separate section. Liquor laws are stupid.
April 5th, 2017 at 8:10 am
I thought all you Tennesseans made your own liquor.
April 5th, 2017 at 9:42 am
Blanding, Utah is a “dry” town. A couple miles south, there is a gas station at Shirttail Junction. On Friday afternoon the sleepy gas station comes alive with folks buying beer. Thursday afternoon the truck arrives and cases of beer are stacked shoulder high in the store. By Saturday evening the stacks are gone.
It’s amusing to watch the little (friendly!) gas station do a land office business so the locals can have a tipple.
April 5th, 2017 at 10:02 am
Texas may still have some Blue Laws on the books, but I’ve been an adult long enough to stock my liquor in the pantry in advance of need. Usually purchased on the way home from work, during the week, when the booze stores aren’t crowded and are well-stocked.
Plan ahead, people, and life is a lot easier.
April 5th, 2017 at 11:12 am
This is what happens when laws are left to each county. Heck, I remember when all stores were supposed to be closed on Sundays.
My grandpaw lived in a “dry” county in Kentucky. We’d stop in a “wet” county on the way to visit so my dad could by a couple cases of beer and a bottle of Kessler’s, which my grandpaw favored.
Of course the only thing “dry” county laws accomplished was making money for the shiners.
April 5th, 2017 at 11:41 am
Want stoopid? How about this-until just recently (3 mebbe’ 4 yrs. ago), in Va. it was legal to carry a firearm openly in an establishment that served alcohol. But concealed carry, permit or not, was verboten.
April 5th, 2017 at 12:01 pm
Roland, the only way the “open carrying in a bar” makes sense is it gives the constabulary an idea of who’s packing and drinking. IIRC, Virginia treats you like an adult in this regard, so yeah it makes no sense.
April 6th, 2017 at 12:58 pm
until just recently (3 mebbe’ 4 yrs. ago), in Va. it was legal to carry a firearm openly in an establishment that served alcohol. But concealed carry, permit or not, was verboten.
Actually, the law is such that currently you can open carry and drink alcohol as long as you aren’t drunk. If you carry concealed, you may not drink at all.
So how does this happen? Well it’s a matter of history and how laws are made. Virginia has never had a prohibition against the open carry of firearms. So open carrying in a restaurant (we don’t have bars) is perfectly legal.
In the 1990s when Virginia changed their may-issue concealed weapon law to a shall-issue concealed handgun law (no knives, etc.), they wrote in a prohibition against carrying concealed guns in restaurants that serve alcohol.
A few years ago that law was amended to say that Virginians can carry concealed in restaurants, as long as they don’t imbibe. And that is how we got to where we are now, where if you want to drink.. you must open carry and not conceal. And you better not be over 0.08%.