So I didn't know this... but

Overheal

So just so I have this straight.... I live in "the Free-est country in the world" (I know it's true, because Sean Hannity keeps telling me it's true) and I can walk down the street with a firearm... but I can't drink a beer, ie. have an open container, in public? What the hell?! WHAT THE HELL. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

Red Hand

Cops tell you off, rummy?:p

Bumblegoose

Can you not put it into a dark plastic bottle and they wouldnt know

Overheal

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Cops tell you off, rummy?:p

not in the slightest

Bumblegoose wrote: »

Can you not put it into a dark plastic bottle and they wouldnt know

Why should I have to?!

Wisco

Whatever about the plastic bottle, haven't you seen the fashion for drinking out of paper bags with the bottle inside? That's just keeping it classy.
And yes, it's a silly and pointless law, although in my opinion there's less public drunkeness than in Ireland. I don't think that law has that result, I think it's just it's less socially acceptable.

lil_lisa

I thought the shocking part was the firearm

Overheal

lil_lisa wrote: »

I thought the shocking part was the firearm

I did not have a gun and I did not go drinking!!

(-.-)'


But it was a nice evening and I would have lacked to sit with my friends after work behind the parking lots and enjoy a few without worrying about being arrested for the most asinine thing I've heard of in a good minute. But they looked at me like I was stupid or something for daring to think about drinking in public.

I mean seriously when you grow up in Clare and spend half your nights out just strolling Ennis with a flask in your hand this was really rather ridiculous for the supposedly exemplification of the free world.

Gandhi

There are plenty of places you CAN drink. What do you mean "behind the parking lots"? On the street? In a park?

They don't have bars in the state you are in?

Hellm0

Move to Chicago; Not only do I frequently see people on the train/sidewalk freely enjoying their booze but also in many alleyways relieving themselves of it aft-ward.

theteal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2fV-_eiKxE

dagdha

I think it is still illegal to have a bottle/can inside a brown bag because its alcohol in public but because you can't see it the cops generally turn a blind eye to it. My sister and her husband live in Maryland and he told me before that the cops can arrest you if you are in your house but you can be seen through your window drinking:eek: I don't know how true that is because the times I've been over there they would regularly sit outside their neighbours house drinking although it was a quite neighbourhood and the cops would'nt be around too much.

Overheal

Gandhi wrote: »

They don't have bars in the state you are in?

$5 for a US Pint of Sam Adams or a 6 pack of Sam Adams for $8? It's a tough call.

Manic Moran

Yeah, it's irritating as hell. My Bradley crew can't really go on the town in Vegas because my driver is 20. He's been in the Army for nearly three years.

NTM

Overheal

Manic Moran wrote: »

Yeah, it's irritating as hell. My Bradley crew can't really go on the town in Vegas because my driver is 20. He's been in the Army for nearly three years.

NTM

Ah but when he's actually been there for three I assume he'll be legal

spideog7

It's actually illegal at home too, just never enforced. Anyway why would you want to drink in a car park do you not have a house?

Just find some sort of sporting event/concert where you can go and tailgate with everyone else and the cops turn a blind eye/it's private property so they can't do anything, I'm not sure how that one works actually.

Overheal

It's actually illegal at home too, just never enforced.

You can't drink alcohol at home?

I'd like a link to this please.

Gandhi

Overheal wrote: »

You can't drink alcohol at home?

I'd like a link to this please.

I see he is in PA like I am. With the amount of Quakers and Amish we have involved in running the place, I wouldn't be surprised at all. They only started allowing you to buy beer on Sunday in 2005 ffs.

spideog7

You can't drink alcohol at home?

I'd like a link to this please.

I meant what you described (having an open alcohol container in a public place) is also illegal in Ireland (which is what I meant when I said "at home", I didn't mean at ones place of residence, apologies for the confusion).

NiRiainRua

Overheal wrote: »

So just so I have this straight.... I live in "the Free-est country in the world" (I know it's true, because Sean Hannity keeps telling me it's true) and I can walk down the street with a firearm... but I can't drink a beer, ie. have an open container, in public? What the hell?! WHAT THE HELL. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

Yes, it's a strange country we live in, but we made that choice so we have to abide
by it's quirky little laws.
Just for the record, you can only carry a gun if you are a US resident and have a permit, unless you are a resident of AL, AK, VT or WY.
It took me a while to get used to the system.....the law of the USA is Federal, but then we have State Government, County Government, and City Government, each with it's own laws and law enforcement. (I got a question about that in my Citizenship exam).

One Sunday I was driving home to FL from North Carolina. I had 2 passengers, one of whom was an Irishman who had bought a case of beer at a store in NC. He had also consumed 2 beers for lunch in a bar. I told him he would have no more to drink until I dropped him at home. I had not taken any alcohol, nor had my other passenger.
On the Interstate I was stopped for speeding by a SC Cop. He went to the passenger side and talked to the Irishman first, and detected alcohol. He then asked me to get out and stand in front of his police car. I did not know until then that SC is a "dry" State on Sundays. He asked if there was anything he should know before he searched my car, I told him there was an unopened case of beer, bought in NC. I had to pay my speeding ticket but it could have been worse.

Slightly off-topic, I have a relative who is a Gharda, she came over to visit and I got her a ride-along shift with an Orange County Deputy. The Sergeant called her Supervisor in Ireland and checked her ID. She was gobsmacked at the amount of resources at the disposal of the police here, and the number of laws and regulations they have to know.
They invited her to come back anytime, she might choose airborne, waterborne,
or equestrian division next time.

JeepGirlMel

Overheal wrote: »

So just so I have this straight.... I live in "the Free-est country in the world" (I know it's true, because Sean Hannity keeps telling me it's true) and I can walk down the street with a firearm... but I can't drink a beer, ie. have an open container, in public? What the hell?! WHAT THE HELL. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack your thread... BUT

I see that you live in South Carolina.... what part are you from?

Also, ppl regularly drink in their own homes or on their own property. As long as you are not a public nusance, you'll be good.

firefly08

I meant what you described (having an open alcohol container in a public place) is also illegal in Ireland (which is what I meant when I said "at home", I didn't mean at ones place of residence, apologies for the confusion).

Not so. I'm always amazed at how widespread this belief is though. There is no general law against drinking in public, in the streets etc. If there was, it wouldn't be quite that easy to get away with it. However, councils are putting up more and more signs banning it in specific places.

I know for a fact that the lawn in front of the courthouse in Ennis is fair game, for example, since I have spoken to the Gaurds there while drinking. They reminded us to put our cans in the bin before we went to the pub.

While there is no national legislation prohibiting drinking in public, each local authority area is entitled to pass bye-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in a public place. Contact your local authority to find out about these bye-laws in your area.

There used to be states in the US where you could drink at 18. I think there was a graduated system, like you could drink certain types of light beer between the ages of 18-21, then anything after 21. But the Federal government apparently pressured each state into cracking down on it by threatening to withhold funding. Same way they got speed limits into every state.

Overheal

JeepGirlMel wrote: »

Sorry, don't mean to hijack your thread... BUT

I see that you live in South Carolina.... what part are you from?

Also, ppl regularly drink in their own homes or on their own property. As long as you are not a public nusance, you'll be good.

Summerville. And from recent research I found this new place called Taps which basically crosses a pub and an ABC for bottles. Actually pretty fair pricing too. Still not quite the freedom I wanted and their 'patio' area leaves much to be desired, but it's a start. Meanwhile me and the friend have taken to tailgating outside the respective residences, which isn't as much fun but close enough I suppose - I just remember flasking up and walking the grounds of my school in Ennis on a night out. That was a fairly different time I suppose.

Black Swan

firefly08 wrote: »

There used to be states in the US where you could drink at 18. I think there was a graduated system, like you could drink certain types of light beer between the ages of 18-21, then anything after 21. But the Federal government apparently pressured each state into cracking down on it by threatening to withhold funding. Same way they got speed limits into every state.

I read about this awhile back. Former President Ronnie Ray Gun (Republican) threatened to withhold federal highway funds if the states did not raise their drinking age for low alcohol drinks from 18 to 21. If I recall correctly, the State of South Dakota was the last to comply, fighting this measure all the way to the US Supreme Court. Now these 18 to 21 year olds can die for their country (join the US military), can sign legally binding contracts and get up to their ears in debt, but cannot have a beer.

The next time you hear some Republican in the States praising Ronnie Ray Gun, and how the Republicans favour state rights over centralised government, you might point this out to them.

NiRiainRua

Black Swan wrote: »

.....If I recall correctly, the State of South Dakota was the last to comply, fighting this measure all the way to the US Supreme Court. Now these 18 to 21 year olds can die for their country (join the US military), can sign legally binding contracts and get up to their ears in debt, but cannot have a beer.
The next time you hear some Republican in the States praising Ronnie Ray Gun, and how the Republicans favour state rights over centralised government, you might point this out to them.

With respect, I think you're letting your political bias get in the way of the facts.
In the interest of full disclosure - I am a card-carrying Republican.
My husband was one of those young Americans who fought in Vietnam before he could legally drink.
He got over it, and served in the Military for 22 years. Yes, he's a Republican too.

First a bit of history:
Quote: "From the end of Prohibition until 1984 drinking ages were determined by the states, many of them had the age at 21 while several lowered the age to 18 for the purchase of beer. This was changed due to the baby boom generation and the Vietnam War. From 1970 through 1975 nearly all states lowered their legal ages of adulthood, thirty including their legal drinking ages, usually from 21 to 18. It was argued that if people were required to fight and die in a foreign war then they should be allowed the privileged of drinking alcohol."

HR 4616 was the 1984 House Bill written by a Democrat whereby all states would become thereafter required to legislate the age of 21 years as a minimum age for purchasing and publicly possessing alcoholic beverages. It did not not outlaw the consumption of alcoholic beverages by those under 21 years of age, that decision was up to the States, and still is.
This was the Bill that would withhold funding for highways if not complied with.
Ronald Reagan did not agree, in fact he threatened to veto the Bill.

Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat-N.J. was the senator who wrote the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, he also proposed the senate amendment to House Bill H.R. 4616 (1984).The Sponsor and 12 co-Sponsors of the Bill were Democrats.

The following was the reason the Bill was proposed, and it got massive support and lobbying from MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving):

"Young drivers are involved in one of every five fatal auto accidents. Almost 60 percent of fatally injured teenagers were found to have alcohol in their blood; 43 percent of those were legally intoxicated. Five thousand of those killed on our highways each year are teenagers – a fifth of all auto fatalities – although teenagers account for only 10 percent of all drivers and travel only 9 percent of all miles driven."

HR 4616 was passed by more Democrats than Republicans.
Senate Amendment 3334 was passed by a majority of 81 to 16.

President Ronald Reagan had threatened to veto the Bill, but when the people had spoken and it was passed by the House and Senate, he changed his mind and signed it into law.

Please read this interesting Fact Sheet:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/alcohol/community%20guides%20html/pdfs/public_app7.pdf

Here's everything you ever wanted to know about Alcohol Policy and Laws in the USA -
lots of maps showing each State's laws:

http://www.alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/Home.html

spideog7

firefly08 wrote: »

Not so. I'm always amazed at how widespread this belief is though. There is no general law against drinking in public

I thought they changed this relatively recently but I checked and you're right they didn't it's up to the councils to pass bye-laws.



With regard to the drinking age in the US I often wondered how it was legal to enforce a minimum age. In the eyes of the law surely an adult is an adult regardless of their age. To my mind a court of law should see a defendant as an ageless adult once they are over 18.

As for the whole "can die for your country but can't drink" well I don't think that's as strong an argument as "can be tried as an adult for drinking underage"

InTheTrees

How timely..

The new Ken Burns documentary on PBS about Prohibition started last night. It looks fascinating and Burns is an amazing story teller.

(We didnt watch because the other half wanted to watch amazing race. Maybe tonight.)

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/

rockonollie

Is it really that big a deal, drink in a bar, drink in a restaraunt, invite your friends over and drink at home.

On the same topic, although it's only considered a misdemeanor, an open container charge on your record is one thing that closes alot of employment options.

phatrat1982

We didn't have these open container laws in Nevada, where I moved from recently so when I came to Nebraska and found out that it was illegal I was actually shocked so it's not the entire country.

NiRiainRua

I've lived in the USA for almost 20 years and still find the laws confusing.
Confusion is understandable when you consider the USA stretches across 5 Time Zones, not counting Hawaii and Samoa, and some States (including FL) include 2 Time Zones.
It's easier to think of it as a Union of 50 different Countries, and within each one there are also City Laws.
Some laws take into consideration the climate and demographics of the State. Some laws only apply to certain parts of the State or City, eg the Las Vegas Strip.

A relative of mine is a member of An Garda Síochána, when she visited me I got her a shift with the local Police, 2pm to 2am. They called her boss in Ireland and got a copy of her credentials. She was amazed at the variety of laws the Officers had to know, and the resources at their disposal. She witnessed a typical shift....drug bust, armed robbery, prostitution sting, open container violations!