So…Can You Carry Guns and Drink Booze in Publix Now?

After a state appeals court overturned Florida’s open carry ban last month, employees at Publix grocery stores across the state have confirmed they are allowing customers to peruse the aisles with their firearms on full display.

On September 10, a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeals deemed the state’s 40-year open-carry ban unconstitutional. Open carry officially went into effect on September 25, allowing Floridians to openly carry their firearms in public.

State law, however, still prohibits carrying firearms in a number of specific locations, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier noted in a guidance memo posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. These include police stations, courthouses, schools, and establishments that serve alcohol.

“A license issued under this section does not authorize any person to openly carry a handgun or carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm into any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose,” Florida Statute 790.06 reads in part.

So…now that Publix is permitting open carry, will its stores that offer alcoholic beverages for customers to consume while they shop also allow firearms?

3 Broward Stores Feature ‘Publix Pours’ and Permit Open Carry

“Love draft beer? Good. We have them in pints or flights,” the Publix Pours website states. “We also have wine, so you can enjoy a glass at our bar or take it with you while you shop. And whether it’s happy hour, Sunday fun day, or anytime, really, you can enjoy a drink at Pours.”

New Times called the three stores in South Florida that offer “Publix Pours”: Courtyard Shops at Wellington (“Clublix”) in Palm Beach County, the Main Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, and Lakeside Centre in Boca Raton. These stores all include an area with a “Pours” bar. (State law permits grocery stores to sell beer and wine, while hard liquor is relegated to so-called package stores; some grocers operate package stores on separate premises.)

Employees at all three stores confirmed that the stores permit open carry.

Lindsey Willis, Publix’s media relations manager for Central and South Florida, did not respond to a phone call or email from New Times asking whether the grocery chain sees a distinction between stores with an area offering on-premises alcohol consumption and stores that lack that amenity.

Meanwhile, some grocery chains are choosing not to permit open carry at all. Spokespeople for Winn-Dixie and Milam’s Market have informed New Times that firearms are still prohibited in their stores.