A state representative wants to end Pennsylvania's Prohibition Era ban on possessing alcohol that was bought from sources other than the state-owned liquor stores.

A Pennsylvania liquor store in Harrisburg.

But here's the rest of the story.

That law — the letter of which is triggered anytime someone is bringing volumes of more than a gallon, or 128 fluid ounces, into the state — is really only enforced on a complaint basis anymore.

If you buy wine during your Jersey Shore vacation and have a couple bottles to bring home when it's over, nobody is waiting to haul you in after you pass through the toll booths on the Walt Whitman Bridge.

The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement reported just one criminal arrest for this latter-day bootlegging crime in 2012, four in 2013 and one in 2014.

Fines for the criminal violation are $10 per bottle or can of beer and $25 for a bottle of wine or spirits. The alcohol also is confiscated.

There have been more administrative violations, in which the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board levies higher fines against bars, restaurants or other licensees, said Maj. Thomas Butler, the bureau's director.

Those totals were three in 2012, nine in 2013 and eight this year.

Bar and restaurant owners have more exposure because of regular licensure reviews that can include comparisons of wholesale purchases from the PLCB with records of retail sales.

But the facts show that cases brought against John Q. Public are literally nonexistent and even then, Butler said, usually only after a consultation with the local District Attorney's office.

The issue could be important to Pennsylvania consumers. In some cases, shelf prices for wine and spirits are cheaper in neighboring states because of taxes and other factors.

According to a 2013 study by a pair of Swarthmore College economics professors, PLCB retail sales are depressed by 3 percent to 8 percent from such cross-border sales.

There used to be more regular border patrols, Butler noted Wednesday.

But that has dropped off in the face of new requirements from the state of Delaware — where alcohol price breaks can be the greatest for Pennsylvanians — for registration information on any vehicles used in an undercover operation.

The cases that still occur are pretty flagrant, like this year's arrest of a Philadelphia-area attorney charged with importing high-end wines not carried by the PLCB and re-selling them.

"If a complaint is brought to our attention, we do investigate," Butler said. "It is not a priority."

State Rep. John Taylor, R-Philadelphia, and chairman of the House Liquor Control Committee, said he wants to change the law regardless of how often it's enforced.

If the state police make just a couple of busts a year for a deterrent effect, Taylor noted Wednesday, "I don't want that to be my constituent. I don't think it's fair."