Questing for Atlantis

I suppose Arlington, VA really doesn’t have any pressing problems. I can only assume this because the city is looking to ban outdoor beer pong.

That’s right. It has already been banned it in bars. Now the city is considering passing a ban on playing beer pong in your own backyard.

According to the story:

Bluemont resident James Thorne said that, since the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) board banned drinking games (such as “beer pong”) from bars and eateries, they have gravitated toward outdoor areas, such as outside local homes.

“It affects our quality of life,” Thorne said of the resulting noise.

Sadly, the county board may be inclined to agree. They have directed county staff to investigate the claims and prepare a report.

In and of itself, nothing much. However, when you consider that:

“What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business,” board member Walter Tejada said. “When it spills out and affects the quality of the neighborhood . . . we have to take a look.”

you have got to think that they’re more than ready to pass regulation interfering what you do on your own property.

I picked up the story from reason, and they had a little additional info. According to Patrick Semmens, who sent the story:

As far as I can tell, this is being pushed by just one person, my next door neighbor, who is the sole proponent quoted in the Sun Gazette’s article.

For the past two years he has called the cops on my well-attended annual St.Patrick’s Day party (and last year also the Virginia Alcohol Bureau), but much to his dismay drinking beer outside during the middle of the day (and playing drinking games) is not against the law. So he is trying to change that by imposing a law on the 200,000 citizens of Arlington County.

Now an elected member of the Arlington County Board says they are looking into it, and the county manager is wasting time and money having his staff “investigate.” A police captain was even dispatched to my house to talk about the proposed law.

He’s also leading the efforts to oppose this law. Check out his site here, it’s got a snazzy Uncle Sam poster.

As Radley Balko points out, noise ordinances already cover this if it’s a problem.

Banning it in bars didn’t make things better. Banning it in yards won’t either. Will they try and ban it in homes too?