Bars, Clubs and Taverns closing at 2:00 a.m. is really troubling...

[Laramie]

My brief stay in Texas (five years) taught me that Texas does do some things right.

Oklahoma plays the mother hen role too often and with good intentions; however, I like what that do in Texas.

They keep the bars and clubs open after closing and serve juices and sodas. Many of the clubs in Texas close at 3:00 a.m. and from that period on they put aside the alchol and serve non alcholic beverages to help sober people up so as not to release all of them out on the roads at the same time. I prefer the 2:00 a.m. closing--people need to be able to get at least a few hours sleep before they go to work.

Can we influence Mother Hen to shake this tail-feather?

What are your thoughts?

[animeGhost]

There's no law that prevents a club or bar from stayin open that late. Its in the hands of the owners. Some clubs and bars stay open later than 2 but its usually on the weekends.

[Bunty]

But I thought all clubs and bars that serve alcohol have to close at 2 am every day. Or at least stop serving alcohol then. Oklahoma's laws against alcohol need to be better known.

[gmwise]

I think there's a ordinance that is in play.
The Paseo bars are examined by cops, and they're sending folks home AT 2am.
No doubt to ticket people for dui and arresting and impounding vehicles.
I think they should served non alcoholic drinks after 12am, personally.
And what lush stays out on a work night that late..lol

[Bunty]

Oh, yeah, local ordnances can come into play. In Stillwater, for instance, bars aren't even allowed to open on Sunday.

[betts]

I think it's wrong. You can be as drunk at 2 a.m. as at 4 a.m. In fact, it's possible people wind their drinking down around 2 and are more likely to be sober at 4. If people want to stay up until 4, and the bars want to stay open, I think they should be allowed to do so and think we're too busy policing morality with laws like that. Governments need to be in the business of governing and stay away from silly laws like this.

[gmwise]

Yea because drinking at 2am or 4am, doesnt contribute to drunk driving.




DA

[betts]

Drinking at any time of the day contributes to drunk driving. Alcohol being legal contributes to drunk driving. We tried to stop that and it didn't work. Legislating morality doesn't work. At least at 4 a.m. you don't have as many people out on the streets going home from the movies or other social events that are put at risk by having drunk drivers on the street.

[bluedogok]

Drinking at any time of the day contributes to drunk driving. Alcohol being legal contributes to drunk driving. We tried to stop that and it didn't work. Legislating morality doesn't work. At least at 4 a.m. you don't have as many people out on the streets going home from the movies or other social events that are put at risk by having drunk drivers on the street.

There was a motorcycle rider killed a half mile from my house last week, running into a car he was following that slowed down to turn left...it was 4:45 on a Tuesday afternoon. Of course, if the rider didn't have a .24 BAC then he might have been able to assess the situation and take proper action.

[Camaro Z28]

IIRC it is an OKC Beer Ordinance that requires 2am closing. The ABLE Commision rules allow an establishment to stay open HOWEVER all liquor must be locked up and no liquor service after 2am period.

At least that is the understanding I have from an ABLE Comissioner.

[OU Adonis]

IIRC it is an OKC Beer Ordinance that requires 2am closing. The ABLE Commision rules allow an establishment to stay open HOWEVER all liquor must be locked up and no liquor service after 2am period.

At least that is the understanding I have from an ABLE Comissioner.

Actually I believe thats incorrect. This is what I have heard

You cannot have any liquor/beer out past 2 AM or you are not in compliance. You can be fined for each bottle or drink thats available past 2 AM.

All they have to find is one bottle or drink available for you to be out of compliance. The amount just jacks up the fine.

So its easier to close the bar before 2 AM and do your clean up then. Can you imagine trying to clear your entire bar of drinks before 2 am? And all the drunks that would fight you for their drinks?

This is my understanding of it. I am not 100% correct but thats how I have heard it.

[bradzilla]

Maybe I'm just getting old, but from past experience (im 28 now) nothing good ever comes from drinking past 2am. If you haven't found what you were looking for by 2am; then you'll regret what ever you find after that hour.

I base this off of 8 years of college....

[OU Adonis]

Maybe I'm just getting old, but from past experience (im 28 now) nothing good ever comes from drinking past 2am. If you haven't found what you were looking for by 2am; then you'll regret what ever you find after that hour.

I base this off of 8 years of college....

Thats because thats cut off time. If someone wanted a good bender and lets say they closed the bars at midnight, that person would just go 2 hours earlier.

[gmwise]

Maybe I'm just getting old, but from past experience (im 28 now) nothing good ever comes from drinking past 2am. If you haven't found what you were looking for by 2am; then you'll regret what ever you find after that hour.

I base this off of 8 years of college....

lol

[OU Adonis]

Ahh to be 28 again

[ljbab728]

Ahh to be 28 again

I've turned 28 twice already and the first time was a lot better. lol

[Downtowner405]

We're gonna be lucky if the state doesn't ban smoking from all public places in 2013. If that happens, we won't have to worry much about bars.

[Bunty]

Like what do you mean? Bars will go out of business? So, not a high percentage of people smoke in bars as it is now.

[PennyQuilts]

Plenty of places ban public smoking and bars are still going strong. I think we will always have saloons and cat houses.

[rcjunkie]

We're gonna be lucky if the state doesn't ban smoking from all public places in 2013. If that happens, we won't have to worry much about bars.

I beg to differ. I bet you will find that bar business's experience an increase in business.

[Downtowner405]

As a cigar afficianodo, I am not in favor of a ban on smoking in public places. My favorite places are cigar friendly. And quite frankly I don't care whether or not anyone else is offended by it. When you go to a bar, you expect to have to smell smoke. Personally I hate the smell of cigarrettes, but I don't care about it so much when I go out.

I'm tired of the "pleasure police" and beta males and others who probably don't even frequent bars and other establishments where smoking is a permitted privilege but would deny others of the same. It's one thing if you're in an airplane, office building, in the company of children or in a restaurant where people are eating. But bars and other public places? Come on!

And I think there are a lot of bar owners in NYC and Chicago that will beg to differ with you about business going up.

[Camaro Z28]

So its easier to close the bar before 2 AM and do your clean up then. Can you imagine trying to clear your entire bar of drinks before 2 am? And all the drunks that would fight you for their drinks?

This is my understanding of it. I am not 100% correct but thats how I have heard it.

From personal experience several years ago a club's lawyers figured out that if they turned in their city beer license and satisfied the ABLE Commision that they had locked up the liquor they could and did stay open until 4am or later. This went on for a couple of years. The club was The Lexus Club at NE 36th/Springlake Dr.

The club eventually went out of business and was unable to reopen since a church moved in across the street. The church has subsequently moved. Once a certain club opened in Bricktown the Lexus Club lost its clientele.

[Larry OKC]

As a cigar afficianodo, I am not in favor of a ban on smoking in public places. My favorite places are cigar friendly. And quite frankly I don't care whether or not anyone else is offended by it. When you go to a bar, you expect to have to smell smoke. Personally I hate the smell of cigarrettes, but I don't care about it so much when I go out. ...

But should you expect it? The same used to be said for the work place, eating places, bingo halls, casinos etc. Slowly people are coming around that the "breathe easy" isn't such a bad thing. I know that Casinos still have smoking but most aren't the smoke filled rooms of yesterday. Strangely the Vegas ones have banned one of the least offense smoking choices but kept the others (many Casinos have non-smoking areas but just as was tried with eating places, sometimes the areas aren't separated and you have crossover. That can depend heavily on the air exchange system too. If a particular establishment wants to keep it, ok. The fear of most businesses was if they banned smoking was that they would lose tons of business. Once most businesses were forced to go smoke free (there were some exceptions built in). It was a level playing field and business either didn't drop or actually increased.

Not generally in favor of government intrusion in private behavior except when that behavior is in the public realm. Then a certain government responsibility might exist. In the privacy of your home or a private (member only) type of business, that is another matter entirely.

[Downtowner405]

I'm gonna respectfully disagree. Bars are not public places. They are private businesses and have the right to serve what is lawful. This is not the place for the government. And as for your question as to whether or not you can expect to be exposed to smoke in such places - the answer is unequivocably YES. And another thing - if you don't want to smell smoke in a bar, you have the right to choose not to go to that bar.

If you're against smoking in bars, yet the bar owner permits and even profits by it by selling cigars and cigarrettes, then who are you to suggest to him that he shouldn't do it simply because you're offended by it? He's taken his risk, his shot at something. And along comes these people who have the choice not to frequent his establishment and tell him how to do business!

This is exactly the same argument that people make when they don't want to listen to a particularly annoying radio personality or watch a TV program that is offensive to them. They want to ban the program rather than do the simple thing and choose not to listen or watch it.


This topic really angers me! Can you tell?

[Bunty]

I'm gonna respectfully disagree. Bars are not public places. They are private businesses and have the right to serve what is lawful. This is not the place for the government. And as for your question as to whether or not you can expect to be exposed to smoke in such places - the answer is unequivocably YES. And another thing - if you don't want to smell smoke in a bar, you have the right to choose not to go to that bar.

If you're against smoking in bars, yet the bar owner permits and even profits by it by selling cigars and cigarrettes, then who are you to suggest to him that he shouldn't do it simply because you're offended by it? He's taken his risk, his shot at something. And along comes these people who have the choice not to frequent his establishment and tell him how to do business!

A reason why California banned smoking in bars was because some workers in such establishments were getting cancer believed caused from being around second hand smoke 8 hours a day. So I guess you would say, if you're afraid of getting cancer from cigarette smoke, then don't work where's there's smoke like that.