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Open Carry in Resturants

Citizen

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Open carry is OK. Its CCW that is a problem. You can't CCW in an establishment that is licensed to serve alcohol for on premises consumption.

You must respect property rights--if the restaurant is posted No Firearms or if you are asked to leave, you risk evolving into a trespassing charge if you fail to honor the request or demand.

Remember that guns and alcohol don't mix. Irarely drink, so I've not paid strict attentionto actual law, if any, against having a drink while carrying in a restaurant.

You must not otherwisebe ineligible to possess a firearm in Virginia--felon, etc.

The Virginia General Assembly website has a statute finder where you can check out the details.
 

VAopencarry

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Open carry is legal. However, the owner has the right to not allow it, so if they ask you to leave or put your gun in the car you must comply, or go to another eatery.
 

longwatch

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While I am always prepared to be kicked out, I don't worry about it. Anti self defense restaurants seem to number less than 1% of establishments from what I can tell. This would be a good time to mention the open carry friendly map at http://www.frappr.com/opencarry/map
 

longwatch

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Actually the law is silent on drinking while open carrying, you are only subject to the general public intoxication statute. Concealed carry while intoxicated is a crime though.
 

firearms_101

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longwatch wrote:
Actually the law is silent on drinking while open carrying, you are only subject to the general public intoxication statute. Concealed carry while intoxicated is a crime though.
Is there any website you know of that I can get more info regarding this silence on drinking while OC? I am not a big drinker but I do occassionally like a beer or glass of wine. I just want to make sure I am not breaking any laws if I do this while I am OC.
 

longwatch

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Well just as there is no law prohibiting open carry, there is no law prohibiting open carry while intoxicated. You can't find something that doesn't exist however this website http://www.virginia1774.org/ has pretty good summaries of Virginia arms laws. Section J1 of 18.2-308 prohibits concealed carry while intoxicated http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308

J1. Any person permitted to carry a concealed handgun, who is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while carrying such handgun in a public place, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Conviction of any of the following offenses shall be prima facie evidence, subject to rebuttal, that the person is "under the influence" for purposes of this section: manslaughter in violation of § 18.2-36.1, maiming in violation of § 18.2-51.4, driving while intoxicated in violation of § 18.2-266, public intoxication in violation of § 18.2-388, or driving while intoxicated in violation of § 46.2-341.24. Upon such conviction that court shall revoke the person's permit for a concealed handgun and promptly notify the issuing circuit court. A person convicted of a violation of this subsection shall be ineligible to apply for a concealed handgun permit for a period of five years.

Section J3 of 18.2-308 prohibits concealed carry by patrons of ABC clubs.

J3. No person shall carry a concealed handgun onto the premises of any restaurant or club as defined in § 4.1-100 for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board under Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia; however, nothing herein shall prohibit any sworn law-enforcement officer from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of such restaurant or club or any owner or event sponsor or his employees from carrying a concealed handgun while on duty at such restaurant or club if such person has a concealed handgun permit.

18.2-388 is the general public intoxication statute.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-388
Profane swearing and intoxication in public; penalty; transportation of public inebriates to detoxification center. If any person profanely curses or swears or is intoxicated in public, whether such intoxication results from alcohol, narcotic drug or other intoxicant or drug of whatever nature, he shall be deemed guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. In any area in which there is located a court-approved detoxification center a law-enforcement officer may authorize the transportation, by police or otherwise, of public inebriates to such detoxification center in lieu of arrest; however, no person shall be involuntarily detained in such center.
 

firearms_101

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longwatch wrote:
Well just as there is no law prohibiting open carry, there is no law prohibiting open carry while intoxicated. You can't find something that doesn't exist however this website http://www.virginia1774.org/ has pretty good summaries of Virginia arms laws. Section J1 of 18.2-308 prohibits concealed carry while intoxicated http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308

J1. Any person permitted to carry a concealed handgun, who is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while carrying such handgun in a public place, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Conviction of any of the following offenses shall be prima facie evidence, subject to rebuttal, that the person is "under the influence" for purposes of this section: manslaughter in violation of § 18.2-36.1, maiming in violation of § 18.2-51.4, driving while intoxicated in violation of § 18.2-266, public intoxication in violation of § 18.2-388, or driving while intoxicated in violation of § 46.2-341.24. Upon such conviction that court shall revoke the person's permit for a concealed handgun and promptly notify the issuing circuit court. A person convicted of a violation of this subsection shall be ineligible to apply for a concealed handgun permit for a period of five years.

Section J3 of 18.2-308 prohibits concealed carry by patrons of ABC clubs.

J3. No person shall carry a concealed handgun onto the premises of any restaurant or club as defined in § 4.1-100 for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board under Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia; however, nothing herein shall prohibit any sworn law-enforcement officer from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of such restaurant or club or any owner or event sponsor or his employees from carrying a concealed handgun while on duty at such restaurant or club if such person has a concealed handgun permit.

18.2-388 is the general public intoxication statute.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-388
Profane swearing and intoxication in public; penalty; transportation of public inebriates to detoxification center. If any person profanely curses or swears or is intoxicated in public, whether such intoxication results from alcohol, narcotic drug or other intoxicant or drug of whatever nature, he shall be deemed guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. In any area in which there is located a court-approved detoxification center a law-enforcement officer may authorize the transportation, by police or otherwise, of public inebriates to such detoxification center in lieu of arrest; however, no person shall be involuntarily detained in such center.
WOW! That was great info! Thanks again!
 

longwatch

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There are also 2 letters that you may find useful to keep with you about the legality of OC in restaurants. One is from the VASP and the other from the Virginia ABC board.
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]http://www.vcdl.org/letters/VASP_OPEN.pdf
http://www.vcdl.org/letters/ABC_Letter.pdf
[/font]
 

longwatch

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Your welcome for the info, just don't get hammered and carry, you might miss and waste ammo.:D
 

vtme_grad98

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I'll have to hunt a little to find the specific statute again, but I know there was one that stated that it is unlawful to discharge a firearm while intoxicated, which I agree with whole heartedly.

Personally, I never drink when I'm armed. There are two reasons for this. The first is perception. Even if I were to have just one drink, which would not be enough to put me over the legal driving limit, it would still contribute to the "cowboy" or "drunken yahoo" image that we try so hard to shed as gun owners. Second, I believe that any time that I am armed, I need to maintain myself at 100% capacity in the event that I may have to use my gun. If something bad were to happen, I would want to know that there was nothing I could have done differently before the situation escalated.



Edit: Looks like I may be wrong. I know I read that statute in the VA code when I bought my first handgun (about 4 years ago). But I thinkeither that portion was edited out of a section, or the section was removed entirely.
 
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