Alcohol in car or brown paper bag

[baja_yu]

So, in some places it's illegal to have an open alcohol container in the car, even if you're completely sober. I've been pondering it for a while and even Googling, but I can't come to or find why. If it's to prevent me from drinking it, I do hope that the lawmakers know that bottle caps and cans aren't really that hard to open. I doubt anyone ever said: I so want to drink this beer right now, while I'm driving... But I just don't have the skills to open the can. If only it were already opened.

And why do people drinking in the street put the bottle in a brown paper bag? Is there some law prohibiting drinking in a public place, and putting the bottle in a bag makes it ok because you can't see that it's alcohol? So you blend with all the other people drinking Coke and Pepsi out of brown paper bags?

[techgnome]

an "open" container is any container which has had it's factory seal broken... So if you open a bottle of beer, and put the lid back on, it's considered an open container. The rest of most open container laws also state that the open container must be within a reasonable access of the occupants to be considered in violation... so you can open a container, seal it, toss it into a cooler and be OK. It's not supposed to be visible, or just lying around on the floor either.

Heck, in some states it's a violation just to be in possession of empties rolling around on the floor.

-tg

[SJWhiteley]

It's also illegal in most locations that you can't have a loaded gun just sittin' there in your car, even if you aren't going to shoot someone.

Also, someone walking around a neighborhood with black clothing and a balaclava, carrying typical (?) burglary tools is completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

By the time you get home to enjoy the refreshing adult beverage it will have gone flat (It's a PSA-extremis).

[techgnome]

"It's also illegal in most locations that you can't have a loaded gun just sittin' there in your car, even if you aren't going to shoot someone." -- Here you can... as long as it's in the center console (if said center console has some kind of latchable lid to it), or if it is in the glove compartment. If you are then pulled over, you're required to tell the officer that there is a weapon. In short it just can't be lying about in plain view.

-tg

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