Do you guys drink?

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Truth be told

A few years back I participated in a training seminar for new officers. I was in the group who were to be drinkers so they could monitor our blood alcohol content and then run us through sobriety tests to see how it affected people. There were 20 of us subjects. It was really quite interesting how it affects the human body and even if you "master" the tests, there are certain things that you have no control over that tip you off. However, the thing that I took away from this exercise was that it takes actually quite a bit for you to reach the limit of .08 in my state. When you start feeling the "buzz", you are actually no where near that BAC. The buzz that you feel is actually your brain telling you to stop doing what you are doing because you are "on the way" to getting there. If you keep drinking, your brain shuts down and you have the sensation of "drinking yourself sober." Now, does that mean that you can drink when you are carrying? Absolutely not. But, it's not just the amount that you consume, it's the time in which you consume it as well. One beer, one shot, or one glass of wine per hour in your own home should not be a problem. Your body metabolizes that much in that time. At least that is what the instructors taught the class that I got to be a part of. I'm not a lawyer so you need to do your own research. But, given my knowledge and experience, that is my data set.
 
Rarely use alcohol now. Will occasionally have a drink or two but only on rare or special occasions and never when away from home. Never when carrying concealed. Many of our major urban centers are very dangerous places right now. It's far better and safer to have one's senses operating at 100% than diminished by alcohol.
 
If someone shoots an intruder and they've had a couple of glasses of wine (or equivalent), explain to me how alcohol would be a factor. The police cannot demand a blood test or breathalizer test any more than they can beat you to make you talk to them. Don't forget, this is an incident at a residence - the rules that apply on the government owned roads don't apply inside your house.

Just point the police in the direction of the person who was shot and then tell them you want to speak with an attorney. Obviously, I'm talking about someone who just had a beer or two, a couple glasses of wine, or something with one shot of liquor in it. Falling down drunk - lots of luck!
 
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I quit drinking 25 years ago, never attended any meetings, just quit.
Not saying this about anyone but me: I was a different person when I drank. I was happy with my friends and unhappy with my family, strange way to be, but that was me.

I would say it's not cut and dry.
 
However, if you do wind up having to shoot an intruder, you can reasonably expect every aspect of your behavior leading up to the shooting to be fairly closely scrutinized. That may play into the reasonableness of any belief that you may have held, right before the Moment When Things Go Bang, that your life was in jeopardy.
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Yeah I'd imagine if Charles Manson escaped from prison, and was wandering your house with Crocodile Dundee's knife yelling "Here's Johnny" in his best The Shining imitation, you could be more blotto than Animal House's Bluto at a toga party and have very little explaining to do. If it's the pixie haired paper-girl standing in your front door yelling "Hello, your door's open" you've got bigger problems than how much you did or didn't drink out of that beer you just opened.
 
Skans said:
If someone shoots an intruder and they've had a couple of glasses of wine (or equivalent), explain to me how alcohol would be a factor.
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Because not every justifiable HD shooting is cut-and-dried. Sometimes the authorities can't immediately tell whether it truly was self-defense, they might think it was negligence or worse. And if they're looking to charge you with something, the fact that you had a measurable blood alcohol content could easily influence their decision. And if it then went to trial, your blood alcohol content would almost certainly be brought up by the prosecutor, which could definitely hurt you.
Skans said:
The police cannot demand a blood test or breathalizer test
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They can if they somehow decide it's not a clean SD shooting and they arrest you. Also, even if they don't test you, if it later goes to court the police could still testify that they smelled alcohol on your breath.

In a HD shooting is it likely that a few drinks will hurt you from a legal standpoint? Probably not, especially if it's clear to the police that it was a justifiable case of SD. But it could definitely happen; look at all the high-profile cases of people justifiably shooting someone in self-defense, but the case still goes to trial.
 
I posted once already but I want to clarify something. I don't drink and drive nor do I drink outside my home. However, I might drink enough every afternoon/evening to put me over the .08 blood-alcohol level. I always have my wits and it's highly unlikely that my moderate alcohol level I'm likely to have would impair my judgment. I'll state again though, if someone breaks into my home with intent to hurt me then I'm going to shoot to stop the attack and I'm not going to hesitate just because I've had few drinks. It's never likely to happen that there is any question whether I was in the right.

I will add though that there are some times I should quit posting on forums after I've had a few.:D:p
 
Truth

I will add though that there are some times I should quit posting on forums after I've had a few.
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Ha no kidding.

I do go to bars.... ones that are not properly posted, but if I drink, my Bersa is locked, using it's built in lock and in the car. I lock it so that if someone breaks in and steals it, it will be that much harder for someone to use. I normally drink at home. I put my gun away, if I get to the point where I couldn't hit anything with it. That is pretty darned rare.
 
Marty8613 said:
I do go to bars.... ones that are not properly posted, but if I drink, my Bersa is locked, using it's built in lock and in the car.
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Are you then planning to drive home? I can completely understand not carrying and drinking if it's against the law, and I also can understand not wanting to carry and drink even if it's legal. But I don't understand the decision to not carry and drink out of an attempt to be responsible, but then immediately driving afterward. If I feel I've had too many drinks to carry, then there's no way I'd ever drive a vehicle in such a condition.
 
Are you then planning to drive home? I can completely understand not carrying and drinking if it's against the law, and I also can understand not wanting to carry and drink even if it's legal. But I don't understand the decision to not carry and drink out of an attempt to be responsible, but then immediately driving afterward. If I feel I've had too many drinks to carry, then there's no way I'd ever drive a vehicle in such a condition.
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Not all states are like WA and have the "carry" and "driving" BAC at the same level. Some states may have blowing any BAC while carrying a crime. Some states require you to inform the officer if you're carrying. All of that can add up to a nightmare of a traffic stop.
 
JimDandy said:
Not all states are like WA and have the "carry" and "driving" BAC at the same level. Some states may have blowing any BAC while carrying a crime. Some states require you to inform the officer if you're carrying. All of that can add up to a nightmare of a traffic stop.
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I think he was referring to drinking and driving in general... carrying or not.
 
JimDandy said:
Not all states are like WA and have the "carry" and "driving" BAC at the same level. Some states may have blowing any BAC while carrying a crime. Some states require you to inform the officer if you're carrying. All of that can add up to a nightmare of a traffic stop.
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I agree, and those are all good reasons not to carry while drinking. My point was simply that it doesn't make sense from a safety standpoint to avoid carrying because you're drinking but then still drive home immediately afterward. Having a few drinks and then driving home is potentially more dangerous than having a few drinks while carrying.

But if the decision is made from a legal standpoint, I completely understand.
 
Mike1234 said:
I think he was referring to drinking and driving in general... carrying or not.
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Yeah, I was saying that it's more dangerous to drink and drive than it is to drink while carrying. I'm not saying I'd ever do this, but if I was legally drunk while carrying and had a .08% BAC, I would still have enough judgement to trust myself to carry a gun. But I wouldn't trust myself to drive home; alcohol affects my driving skills far more quickly than it affects my judgement.
 
Although I would be the first to admit that I have done stupid things while drinking, never did they involve shooting someone else. More often than not, they were the proverbial "hold my beer" moments. Some of them involved driving (offroad) while drinking and one even involved hopping a train that had slowed down just to see where it would take me. The problem with the latter is that there's a good chance that once you get to where it is taking you, you won't know where you are anyway. For some reason though, it *seemed* like a good idea at the time. :o
 
Texas

In Texas, there is no BAC level acceptable to carry. It isn't defined. For driving it is. If I can't drive, I'll call a tow truck.... Same price as a cab, and my car is home. Typically it isn't more than a drink and a snack.
 
Yeah, I just noticed you're in TX. I've heard that before, that it's not well defined there and the general consensus among CHL holders in TX is not to risk drinking at all.
 
I enjoy a beer or two and if I had to protect myself I'd still do it. Me having a beer doesn't afford anyone the luxury of entering my home with illl intent.
 
I do occasionally have a drink. Almost always however I limit it to one beer/glass of wine/cocktail.

When I am in my home firearms are locked up in a safe 99% of the time, if one is near me (as one is now) and I have a drink, I usually put it away; or at least don't keep it on me.

I know my shooting can be affected by things at subtle as changes in diet; I can't imagine what alcohol in my system would do to me shooting, especially during a self-defense scenario!

There are a few impact weapons stashed away inside my home, and petty theft is usually the worst that happens here. If something did happen while the guns were away I could have a baseball bat in a few seconds and I literally always carry a folding knife; so I am not totally defenseless in any case. I trust myself to not accidentally hit the neighbors house with a baseball bat, if I was even a little buzzed + in the middle of an adrenaline rush I don't feel it would be responsible to use a firearm.
 
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