
General manager Brad Girard demonstrates an underhand throw at Blade and Timber, an ax-throwing range in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Photo: Genna Martin/Seattlepi.com/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Alcohol and ax-throwing can now coexist in Washington.
Driving the news: As of July 9, the state Liquor Control Board is allowing ax-throwing businesses to also serve alcohol, The News Tribune reports.
Why it matters: The trendy activity — in which people hurl the tools at targets, usually in lanes similar to batting cages — has grown both locally and nationwide.
- But owners of hatchet-throwing operations in Washington state have long said their inability to serve alcohol limits their profits, threatening their ability to stay open — especially during the pandemic.
Details: If you're thinking the combination of alcohol and ax-throwing sounds like a bad idea, you wouldn't be the first.
- Matt Baysinger, CEO of the company that owns the ax-throwing joint Blade & Timber in Seattle, told Crosscut last year that he's heard jokes about the perils of mixing alcohol and axes many times before.
- But he and other ax-throwing entrepreneurs say the lack of recorded injuries at their venues speaks to their commitment to safety.
- Other states have allowed alcohol and ax throwing without incident, Baysinger told Crosscut.
- "This can be done in a really safe capacity for guests and the public," he told The News Tribune.
Yes, but: You won't be able to hold a drink in one hand and throw an ax with the other.
- The liquor board's new rules require alcohol to be served and consumed in a space separate from where the ax hurling happens.

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