"No Guns Allowed Sign" in Lexington, KY.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Knotthead

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
174
Location
Kentucky
Today I saw a sign on the door of the Liquor Barn in Lexington. This was not the usual "No Guns Allowed" sign that Kentucky businesses post to express their desire that patrons be unarmed, but something more. As most of you who live in this state know, such signs do not carry the weight of law, and all they can do is ask you to leave. This sign specifically referenced KRS 244.125, which I did not recognize, as the bulk of related Kentucky law is in three other chapters. When I got home and looked it up, I found that this section was in reference to establishments which sold alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. I do not remember seeing that they had opened a bar on the premises since the last time I had visited, and I don't believe this is legal anyway.

Tomorrow I will try to find contact information for the management and see if I can get an explanation. In the meantime, has anyone else in the Lexington or Louisville area noticed these signs, and do you have any information to offer?

edited to add link to referenced statute
 
Last edited:
I plan to move to KY --I hope there are not many of these antigunners there,,,
I for one would go out of my way to make sure they know Ill shop someplace else!!!
 
Avoid Lexington/Louisville and you will be fine
WHA...? But Buds gun shop is in Lexington! and i want to visit them.
Ill just make it my only stop.
I have family in WV and hope to someday make it a slightly out of the way adventure.
 
Sounds to me like the store owner is simply only mistaken about which particular statute backs-up his/her desire to keep guns out.

Here in NC, the applicable law allows owners of establishments not covered by a hard-prohibition to keep guns off their premises with a "conspicuous posting". A friend of mine has a pretty impressive success-record of getting business and store owners to rethink that PC position and take the signs down, mostly by convincing them they're taking on an increased legal liability for the protection of their patrons by posting such a prohibition. He even pulled this off at the local K-mart by talking to the manager. Success all depends on approach and salesmanship, I'd guess.

Les
 
But Buds gun shop is in Lexington!
It sure is, and its a great place, but you have to realize that for every gun in that shop there are 1,000 liberal hippie lunatics in Lexington that wouldn't enjoy anything more than to melt all those guns down into solar panels and windmills. There is a reason that Lexington is often called the "Boulder Colorado of the East"
 
Bud's is not in Lexington. It's in Paris, which isn't even a "suburb" of Lexington. It's a good 20 minute drive from Lexington at least.

Just keeping the record straight.

Also, it sounds like Liquor Barn needs a better attorney to do their legal research for them before they post their signs.
 
Go in and buy a fifth of whisky...pop it open and take a big swig...(with out the gun)
And when they say you cant drink their tell them about the sign and the law
it pertains to.Id do it but I stopped drinking 9yrs.ago:p
 
Bud's is not in Lexington. It's in Paris, which isn't even a "suburb" of Lexington. It's a good 20 minute drive from Lexington at least.
Just keeping the record straight.

You sure?
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_43/products_id/13704
if you hover over the 2 places listed that have the gun in stock it says its 2 differant retail shops.One in Paris and one in Lex.
But i cant find an address in Paris,but is listed as Lex.
Im now kinda lost on this one.
 
Unless I'm mistaken (which I just might be) the Bud's in Lexington is for LE and the actual consumer shop is in Paris. I believe you can buy from them online and have them transferred to the one in Lexington but don't think you can just walk in there and start buying things.

I could be wrong though. I live in Lexington and was thinking of driving over to the one in Paris soon.
 
I love these threads.

It's funny watching all the people who love to say that someone has a right to do what they want on their property bitch and moan about someone doing what they want on their property.

Grab a tissue, take a deep breath. Either lock the gun in the car and go buy your booze, or find a different liqour store.

Honestly, if you're paranoid about being shot and killed on a quick beer run then you should consider moving somewhere safer.
 
Honestly, if you're paranoid about being shot and killed on a quick beer run then you should consider moving somewhere safer.

By that logic, I shouldn't EVER carry. I don't THINK I'll be robbed going to Wal-mart, going camping, going to check the mail etc. However, theres a funny thing about suprises though....they most often happen WHEN YOU AREN'T EXPECTING THEM. I doubt MANY permit holders ARE EXPECTING to need their gun, but I for one believe in the line "better safe than sorry". Besides, haven't you noticed corner shops and liquor stores attract a LOT of robberies and hold-ups? Have you ever noticed the unsavory element that often hangs out around these locations? I guess I just don't comprehend what it is you're getting at. I carry because I believe its my right, because I care about my safety, and because I NEVER KNOW WHAT THE NEXT 60 SECONDS MAY BRING. If I get shot buying a 6 pack, I'm going to feel pretty dumb that that was the one time I actually NEEDED my firearm, if I'm lucky enough to live through the experience. In today's world, I like to be pprepared to defend myself if need be. If you are willing to forego that right, by all means do so, but no need to suggest someone else is overly paranoid because they don't see things the same way.
 
By that logic, I shouldn't EVER carry. I don't THINK I'll be robbed going to Wal-mart, going camping, going to check the mail etc. However, theres a funny thing about suprises though....they most often happen WHEN YOU AREN'T EXPECTING THEM. I doubt MANY permit holders ARE EXPECTING to need their gun, but I for one believe in the line "better safe than sorry". Besides, haven't you noticed corner shops and liquor stores attract a LOT of robberies and hold-ups? Have you ever noticed the unsavory element that often hangs out around these locations? I guess I just don't comprehend what it is you're getting at. I carry because I believe its my right, because I care about my safety, and because I NEVER KNOW WHAT THE NEXT 60 SECONDS MAY BRING. If I get shot buying a 6 pack, I'm going to feel pretty dumb that that was the one time I actually NEEDED my firearm, if I'm lucky enough to live through the experience. In today's world, I like to be pprepared to defend myself if need be. If you are willing to forego that right, by all means do so, but no need to suggest someone else is overly paranoid because they don't see things the same way.

I'm not saying it isn't OUR right to carry, that you shouldn't carry, or that you need to put yourself in danger.

My point is that if you can't stand to let go of your .40 caliber security blanket for 3 minutes you either are somewhere you don't belong (in a practical sense, not a legal sense. ie I have every legal right to walk down Fordham road in the Bronx but that wouldn't be very bright of me as a white guy) or you probably have security and/or masculinity issues IMO.

There's no other liquor stores in the area? He can't make a tacti-cool commando covert speed beer run, perhaps ducking and rolling around the shelves while in constant radio communication with a lookout posted near the door?
 
I don't believe a desire to be armed in public or in a business often targeted for robberies (as many liquor stores are) reflects security or masculinity issues. I think it reflects a desire for personal safety, which is something most of us have I would like to believe. Granted, the odds of needing to be armed are slim to none if you're buying beer at 9Am on a tuesday morning...but that same store may be an entirely different situation @ midnight on saturday night. However, you honestly never know, and you can be shot during a hold up just as easily on that tueday morning. Like I said, thats the funny part about suprises....they tend to catch poeple off guard and happen when people are least suspecting them. Personally, its a non-issue IMO....they don't want me carrying there, I won't carry there....but I won't spend money there either.
 
Why would you shop at a business that doesn't want you there with your gun? Vote with your feet and spend your money at another store.
 
I believe they have that sign up at our Liquor Barns as well. For some reason I remember seeing it on a Kroger liquor store as well. To clarify, liquor barns are not "hold up" liquor stores, usually they are in higher end parts of town and its basically a mall of liquor.

I hadn't realized that Lex had gone that liberal, but being a college town, I guess you get a lot of indoctrination. Louisville has its parts of town where the libs dominate, but I would say for the most part we still embrace the 2nd. Believe it or not the one place I find to be the most liberal and non gun friendly would be, of coarse, where the government resides, in Frankfort. Can't walk into a gun store with a gun.

Like others stated I would find somewhere else to shop or go in anyway.
 
I wouldn't go so far as to suggest insecurity issues for someone who wants to have their gun with them.

However, I agree, if someone says no guns on their property, then that should be respected. I don't know all about the laws that require a sign to be posted exactly as proscribed by the law, but my feeling is that if someone posts a conspicuous sign that says no guns, (or no pets, or no clothing in gang colors, or whatever) and you violate that, you should be seen as a trespasser in the eyes of the law.
 
To clarify a few things, this was a new sign that I had not seen in previous trips, though it had been several months since the last one. It was printed on paper and taped to the door, not a commercially printed one, as if it had been hastily done. Also, the Liquor Barn is not your typical seedy liquor store, it is a large warehouse type with selections of wines, spirits, and beers that you simply don't see outside of Lexington and Louisville in Kentucky. It also has a large selection of breads, cheeses, coffees, etc. It's kind of like Disneyland for adults who like to indulge. They offer regular wine and bourbon tastings as well, which may be a legitimate excuse for the sign. Simply going to another liquor store is not an attractive option. If necessary, I will simply return to my car and leave my gun, as I did yesterday.

As for the discussion on Bud's Gun Shop, they have operated out of Paris, KY, a few miles northeast of Lexington for years, but they recently opened a new location in Lexington. I don't know if it is a LE only shop, as suggested above, but I sincerely doubt it.

As has also been suggested, Lexington and Louisville are politically very liberal compared to the rest of the state, but "No Guns" signs seem to be very rare in Lex., and I suspect Louisville is the same, though their mayor is a member of Bloomberg's outfit.

edited to add: By the way, if you are visiting from out of state and are a bourbon fan, you will find selections at the Liquor Barn that you've never seen at your stores back home. Don't miss it.
 
Last edited:
I don't periodically cancel insurance policies because I might not need them, I don't disconnect alarm systems at random, I don't move the fire extinguishers out of the house every so often either. If I knew when or where bad people might take an interest in me, I would avoid those places and times. I carry because I don't know when something might happen.
When the argument is weak, the tactic is to stoop to personal insult and ridicule, doesn't mean there is any validity to the argument. But then, if I was Batman, maybe I wouldn't worry about carrying a gun either.
 
The liquor barn in Louisville, of preston and fern valley has no such sign. I go where i want regardless ,unless its against the law . post office, police station, courts ect.
 
If the sign is new, ask the manager why it was recently added, and let him know you'll be shopping elsewhere as long as it remains up.

We had a situation in town where a local restaurant was robbed and the daytime manager put up a "No Guns" sign. This was a popular restaurant for OpenCarry.org dinners, etc., so it was noticed quickly.

Once word got out that the place was posted, calls and emails to the management quickly turned the situation around. The sign was put up as a knee-jerk reaction to the robbery, and once they had time (two days) to think about how little it would do to deter crime, the sign came down.

As a show of support, we just had an OC dinner there and 110 people showed up to let them know we appreciate their support of the 2A.

Since the sign is already up, you have nothing to lose by asking for it to be removed.

And, whether the sign comes down or stays up, go and add the business as positive or negative on the friend or foe site in my sig line. /shameless plug
 
I have just emailed the following to the store in question:

Yesterday, while I was entering your Hamburg store, I was confronted by a new sign prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. While private businesses are free to do so, this one referenced KRS 244.145, which applies to establishments which sell alcohol by the drink for consumption on the premises, not to package stores. I, and several others I am in contact with, would like to know why the Liquor Barn feels this statute is applicable to your establishment.

Will post any response I get.
 
My point is that if you can't stand to let go of your .40 caliber security blanket for 3 minutes you either are somewhere you don't belong (in a practical sense, not a legal sense. ie I have every legal right to walk down Fordham road in the Bronx but that wouldn't be very bright of me as a white guy) or you probably have security and/or masculinity issues IMO.

How many minutes is it safe to go about unarmed?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top