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Are restaurants posted liquor establishments? Preemption?

Peacemaker

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
91
Location
, Georgia, USA
imported post

I am familiarizing myself with Maine's laws.

Are restaurants that serve alcohol considered posted liquor establishments?

Does the State have preemption or does one have to worry about city and county ordinances regarding open carry?

So far, I have reviewed the Maine statutes at
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/25/title25ch252sec0.html

The NRA summary at:
http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/MESL.pdf

And the HandgunLaw.us at:
http://handgunlaw.us/states/maine.pdf

HGL claims that carry is okay in restaurants that serve alcohol, but I am trying to reconcile that claim with the other reading.
 

Peacemaker

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
91
Location
, Georgia, USA
imported post

Hendu024 wrote:
Maine has full state preemption.

http://opencarry.org/me.html

You can also carry in restaurants that serve alcohol.

http://opencarry.org/restaurant.html

There have been some problems in southern Maine with OC'ing before, especially in the Portland area. The cops there think they have their own little rebublik, but carry on!

Nice. I am more worried about getting stuck overnight in Boston or Newark on the way :what: Connecting flights are something I have never had to deal with when transporting a firearm.
 

Hendu024

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
445
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
imported post

Peacemaker wrote:
Hendu024 wrote:
Maine has full state preemption.

http://opencarry.org/me.html

You can also carry in restaurants that serve alcohol.

http://opencarry.org/restaurant.html

There have been some problems in southern Maine with OC'ing before, especially in the Portland area. The cops there think they have their own little rebublik, but carry on!

Nice. I am more worried about getting stuck overnight in Boston or Newark on the way :what: Connecting flights are something I have never had to deal with when transporting a firearm.
Funny you mention that. I have transported a firearm a couple of times in the last few months and the last time I did, I almost had some big issues. I'd heard stories of people getting stuck in NY or something on a connection and then have to re-check baggage and getting tagged with an "unregistered handgun" or some BS along those lines.

I flew into La Guardia and my connection was severely delayed with cancellation seeming imminent. After finding out that if I did indeed get my flight cancelled, I would have to stay the night, and that means that they would have to give me my bags back. After dealing with a completely moronic "manager" from US Airways, I went to TSA and explained the situation. I basically told them that if my flight got cancelled I absolutely WOULD NOT take possession of my baggage due to the fact that I had a declared firearm and had heard horror stories.

The TSA supervisor said that as long as I have the initial ticket that they put in the locked case from the original airport, I would be all set, and it would prove what had happened with my flight. (When you declare the firearm the first time, they put a signed, dated red/orange ticket in the case that says you declare it is unloaded, yata yata.) Just to be clear, I did not verify this with a LEO. It was after midnight, and the place was deserted.

So anyways, my flight didn't get cancelled, and I finally got back to VA at 0300. I'm not going to take the TSA guy's word as God, but it made sense. If they bagged you on some BS weapons charge in that situation, as long as you have that card from the first check-in, they would have a hard time making the charges stick.

Just my $.02 Hope it helps.
 
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