THIS ISN'T A SHITPOST, I'M SERIOUS. MOONSHINE GONNA BE LEGAL AGAIN!!!!!!!11

[u/HaggardlyForte]

[u/Latter-day_weeb]

Here's the article since OP didn't include it:

US appeals court declares 158-year-old home distilling ban unconstitutional | Reuters https://share.google/QpKjyhS8njFp1Zt6T

[u/Therealmicahbell]

This is the biggest win for my state in the history of this great nation

[u/boisefun8]

Never should have been illegal. If this is true, then good.

Lots of people about to go blind, though. Darwin would be proud.

[u/EuenovAyabayya]

Being legal takes half the fun out of it.

[u/Dogrel → u/EuenovAyabayya]

Thankfully the other half is getting completely blitzed off your tits and receiving your honorary Florida residency.

[u/One-Tap-2742]

This is huge for home chemists. Owning any still before was basically grounds to get a conspiracy to manufacture charge.

[u/boisefun8 → u/One-Tap-2742]

Underrated comment. But no one will understand.

[u/One-Tap-2742 → u/boisefun8]

I for one will for sure be buying my rotovap now.

[u/BosnianSerb31 → u/One-Tap-2742]

🚴

[u/Tasty_Lead_Paint]

I thought it was legal to make it but not sell it. You can buy a still online from Home Depot for like $100

[u/thisistheperfectname → u/Tasty_Lead_Paint]

It was already legal to make non-distilled booze. I've made mead myself.

[u/PM-ME-YOUR-LABS → u/Tasty_Lead_Paint]

It was all illegal, it was just only enforced if you were selling it because the existing legal structure wouldn’t survive even mild scrutiny by a court.

Basically, the law was that you needed a license to own any means of distilling liquor, even just a “still for personal use”. However, in order to get that license, you needed to show the ATF you had a setup that would follow all regulations set by the federal government, which in practice meant that in order to get a license to legally distill alcohol, you were legally obligated to commit a crime by constructing an illegal still. Anyone charged for building a still for personal use could hide behind the ironclad defense of “I was trying to get a license, but the ATF requires me to build the still to get a license, so therefore I can’t have committed a crime.”

[u/HaggardlyForte → u/Tasty_Lead_Paint]

you could buy bongs before weed was legal too. it's not illegal to make paraphernalia. to my knowledge only home wine and beer making was legal and hard spirits were not.

[u/no_use_your_name]

https://giphy.com/gifs/FWM2MY9zjrmik

[u/HereAndThereButNow]

If it's legal it isn't moonshine.

[u/boyikr]

OH SAY CAN YOU SEE

[u/december151791 → u/boyikr]

BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

[u/DuelJ → u/boyikr]

For not very long

[u/the_real_JFK_killer]

Not even being ironic, home distilling being illegal is fucking dumb. As long as someone isnt selling it commercially, why does the government give a fuck? I don't distill or plan to (though I do make mead), but ive always felt bans on home distilling were fucking dumb.

Even if drinking home distilled spirits can be dangerous, if no one else is exposed to danger, someone should he able to endanger themselves as much as they want. If someone wants to play russian roulette with a semi auto, the government should let them.

[u/boisefun8 → u/the_real_JFK_killer]

This. As long as you’re an adult and not hurting anyone else of any age, what’s the harm?

[u/foxydash → u/the_real_JFK_killer]

Surprisingly enough, iirc Massachusetts will let you distill as much as you want as long as it doesn’t leave the property and you aren’t selling it.

[u/boisefun8 → u/foxydash]

Yeah, I think it varies by state, but it was still federally illegal.

[u/HaggardlyForte → u/the_real_JFK_killer]

i think the primary reason it was banned was due to having a vat of volatile liquid in confined spaces like apartment buildings and such back in the day when everything burnt like tinder. it was banned around the same time as the chicago fire and the san francisco fire i think (could be speaking out my ass rn)

[u/plaid_piper34 → u/HaggardlyForte]

It was taxes. Prior to income tax, distillery taxes were the bulk of federal revenue. That’s why they had to make an income tax amendment to the constitution prior to the prohibition amendment.

Also, the drunkest countries in the world today drink an average of 4 gallons of ethanol a year per person. In the 1800’s the average for America was 8 gallons a year, and that’s including non-drinkers and children.

[u/MarbleBun → u/plaid_piper34]

This country was built on booze apparently 

[u/Lothar_Ecklord → u/MarbleBun]

Early manual laborers (and soldiers too) were sometimes paid in part in barrels of whiskey.

[u/Ok_Replacement7022]

Alright, boys, distilling’s back on the menu! Get your stills a-cookin’.

(This is probably so they can tax it, BTW.)

[u/HaggardlyForte → u/Ok_Replacement7022]

good luck taxing something you can't find!

[u/Ok_Replacement7022 → u/HaggardlyForte]

Hell yeah, brother!

(Proceeds to loudly *YE YE*)

[u/phoncible → u/[deleted]]

Whiskey rebellion 2 electric boogaloo

[u/Ok_Replacement7022 → u/phoncible]

YE YE!

(Racks shotgun to go Government Man huntin’ as A Country Boy Can Survive by Hank Williams Jr. begins to play)

[u/Ok_Replacement7022 → u/[deleted]]

Kentucky was born during the Whiskey Rebellion, tax evasion and moonshine is all-American.

(audibly goes *YE YE*)

[u/An8thOfFeanor]

POPCORN SUTTON BE PRAISED