State may review crackdowns on drunks

State lawmakers are planning to take another look at the crackdown on drunks in bars after public outcry over busts at 30 Dallas-area bars this month. And it does seem people are pretty ticked off about the whole thing:

"I'm getting all those same e-mails, the Nazi, Taliban, Gestapo e-mails," said [Texas Alcoholic Beverage] Commission spokeswoman Carolyn Beck. "I don't really understand the hateful outrage. I don't understand, 'Die in a fire.'"

That is a little extreme, but the messages have hit home: state Rep. Kino Flores, the chairman of the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee, said he plans to call a meeting next month to review the crackdown to see whether the state is "going too far, or do we need to go further?"

The TABC's arrest program, which is designed to cut down on public intoxication and drunk driving, has been in place since August and has resulted in more than 2,200 arrests and citations. It surprised a lot of people that you could be arrested for being drunk in a bar, and though lawmakers say they're not targeting people stumbling around watering holes — which might surprise those drunks in Dallas — but they're trying to prevent drunks from driving. "There is certainly potential danger," state Sen. John Whitmire said. Nevertheless, being drunk anywhere in public, even in bars, is against the law and is punishable by a fine of up to $500. So, bottoms up — but keep an eye out for the fuzz.