Question about open carry and bars in VA

[Slateman]

So, I went to the movies tonight. The theater is really nice. And it has a bar. In VA, you can't carry concealed in a place that has a license to serve alcohol. However, you can open carry.

Well this theater has a bar. Its in a seperate room, but there is no door seperating it from the main lobby. Just walk through the . . . doorless doorway. I'm not sure, but I don't believe you are allowed to carry your alcoholic beverages into the theater.

So what do you think? Conceal carry as long as I don't enter the bar? Or does the law apply to the whole theater?

Also, what about bars in malls? Like a Bennigans or something? Do I have to open carry over the whole mall?

 

[XLMiguel]

There's no such thing as a 'bar', per se, in VA - they're all technically 'resturaunts'. Any establishment that serves alcohol in VA must generate the majority of its revenue from food, so if the bar is part of the theater, no concealed carry.

The mall is a different issue. The mall is a separate entity from the resturaunt, the 'mall' does not serve alochol, so you may carry concealed in the mall proper, or any store that isn't posted, but not in any resturaunt that serves alcohol in the mall. It's kinda confusing, and VCDL ( www.vcdl.org ) is trying to get the law changed, so write your state representative and make your opinion heard.