It would be legal to shoot the ‘Hooch while carrying hooch under legislation approved Tuesday in the state House.
The House voted 159-0 to pass House Bill 172 by Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee. The bill would exempt inflatable rafts, inner tubes and homemade structures from a boating-under-the-influence bill the Legislature passed two years ago.
“There’s a big difference between boating under the influence and floating under the influence,” Lumsden said, while noting that it is still not “prudent to become intoxicated and enter our waterways.”
Riding a raft down the Chattahoochee River, for example, would be exempt from BUI laws if the bill passes.
The BUI bill, signed into law in 2013, came after a number of high-profile fatalities on Lake Lanier and elsewhere where alcohol played a major role. But Lumsden said he recently heard about a case of an individual charged under the law for being intoxicated while floating in an inner tube.
If convicted, the individual could face fines of up $10,000, loss of driving privileges and more.
Besides, Lumsden said, other laws against public drunkenness and disorderly conduct could still be used to handle specific cases.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
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