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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Booze Coming to|Gun Shows in Texas

AUSTIN (CN) - Texas' ban on serving alcohol at gun shows may be lifted in some circumstances, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said.

The agency on August 8 requested a 30-day period for public input on proposed changes to its administrative rules .

Under current rules, alcohol service must be suspended at a TABC-licensed venue during a gun show - including time needed for set-up and dismantling.

The proposal would allow alcohol service to continue if the TABC approves a written agreement 30 days before the gun show that specifies that live ammunition will be banned from the building; that firearms be disabled and not readily convertible for use; and that guns sold will not be delivered inside the building.

The proposal would allow ceremonial displays of a firearm as long as it is disabled, not readily convertible for use and has no live ammunition.

TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the changes are the result of an unidentified gun club asking the agency to reconsider the ban.

Beck told the Texas Tribune the TABC concluded that "if there wasn't going to be any live ammunition, and the guns on display would be disabled, and they didn't transfer weapons to people there where the drinks were, then that wasn't such a big public safety risk."

The issue of gun regulation at TABC-licensed venues came to a head at this year's state Republican Convention at the Fort Worth Convention Center, when open-carry advocates were not allowed inside the venue with their weapons because alcohol was served there.

The proposed rule change "doesn't have any impact on open carry," Beck said.

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