What I'm not getting is why do others think that it's their place to demand that others do as they believe?
Then you get to the individual and their life. I will first say that if you drink and shoot, unless you'd been drinking in your own home and a self-defense matter comes up, then I will disagree with your actions but if the only one that you will harm is yourself, who am I to demand that you cease your activities.
I could voice my disagreement with your actions but I'm not going to go out and say that there otta be a law or to try to force you to comply with my opinions on the issue. It's not my place to do so.
Now, if their actions ARE creating a hazard (a true hazard, not a perceived hazard) then that is something else entirely.
Me, I have gotten to the point where I respect the power of the tool that I may be using and that when I use it, I need to be in control of my mind as well as my body. That the time that one should use these tools when not in full control is in an emergency only.
And I'm not just talking of guns. I mean all tools, power tools, gas driven tools, etc..
I would never use or pick up my chainsaw if I had been drinking, but lets say that my Uncle is outside and a tree falls on him, he's pinned but the tree is crushing him slowly. I could do two things, I could get my chainsaw and cut the tree to lesson the weight enough to pull it off him or I could call the emt's/fire department, who may, or may not, arrive in time to save his life.
I know, I know, you can give the whole "just don't drink" speech. To say this is to just turn your head from reality because as a legal product, people are going to drink. As well they should if they have chosen to do so. And drinking is a Right, remember, it is in the Bill of Rights since the repeal of prohibition.
And lets substitute any legal drug into the place of alcohol. Do you drink coffee and then go shooting? Coke, Pepsi? If so, you are not in full control of your mind or body, since caffeine is a drug and does affect the mind/body. How about smoking? How about prescription drugs?
Can anyone here raise up their hands and state that they've NEVER fired a gun while impaired by any legal drug? I mean, who are we to pass judgment when most likely at one time in our life, we've done the same thing, just with a different substance.
Oh, for the original post: Possession of a gun while impaired is subject only if you are in public and you have the gun on you or near you (like your car). But the law doesn't apply to your private residence or your privately owned business. The law only applies if the LEO's are called for another issue, such as DV or wanton reckless endangerment (like shooting, throwing things, etc.. at your neighbors or their livestock).
You can sit in your back yard and get soused and shoot all day and night long. You can sit in your house and do the same thing if you were so inclined to do so. No one can do anything about it.
I wouldn't suggest that one does so, I wouldn't agree with the one that is doing so, and I most likely would disassociate myself from that person, but I wouldn't run out and whine that there otta be a law, or try to force my disagreements of their actions upon them.
I would shake my head and walk away. You can't legislate a person's actions just because you don't like those actions when those actions don't harm anyone except for the one that has decided to act on those actions, stupid or not. And I'm talking legal substances, not illegal. For those that wish illegal substances to be legal, get the law changed in your state/federal levels and then we can add those substances into the mix.
Wayne
Then you get to the individual and their life. I will first say that if you drink and shoot, unless you'd been drinking in your own home and a self-defense matter comes up, then I will disagree with your actions but if the only one that you will harm is yourself, who am I to demand that you cease your activities.
I could voice my disagreement with your actions but I'm not going to go out and say that there otta be a law or to try to force you to comply with my opinions on the issue. It's not my place to do so.
Now, if their actions ARE creating a hazard (a true hazard, not a perceived hazard) then that is something else entirely.
Me, I have gotten to the point where I respect the power of the tool that I may be using and that when I use it, I need to be in control of my mind as well as my body. That the time that one should use these tools when not in full control is in an emergency only.
And I'm not just talking of guns. I mean all tools, power tools, gas driven tools, etc..
I would never use or pick up my chainsaw if I had been drinking, but lets say that my Uncle is outside and a tree falls on him, he's pinned but the tree is crushing him slowly. I could do two things, I could get my chainsaw and cut the tree to lesson the weight enough to pull it off him or I could call the emt's/fire department, who may, or may not, arrive in time to save his life.
I know, I know, you can give the whole "just don't drink" speech. To say this is to just turn your head from reality because as a legal product, people are going to drink. As well they should if they have chosen to do so. And drinking is a Right, remember, it is in the Bill of Rights since the repeal of prohibition.
And lets substitute any legal drug into the place of alcohol. Do you drink coffee and then go shooting? Coke, Pepsi? If so, you are not in full control of your mind or body, since caffeine is a drug and does affect the mind/body. How about smoking? How about prescription drugs?
Can anyone here raise up their hands and state that they've NEVER fired a gun while impaired by any legal drug? I mean, who are we to pass judgment when most likely at one time in our life, we've done the same thing, just with a different substance.
Oh, for the original post: Possession of a gun while impaired is subject only if you are in public and you have the gun on you or near you (like your car). But the law doesn't apply to your private residence or your privately owned business. The law only applies if the LEO's are called for another issue, such as DV or wanton reckless endangerment (like shooting, throwing things, etc.. at your neighbors or their livestock).
You can sit in your back yard and get soused and shoot all day and night long. You can sit in your house and do the same thing if you were so inclined to do so. No one can do anything about it.
I wouldn't suggest that one does so, I wouldn't agree with the one that is doing so, and I most likely would disassociate myself from that person, but I wouldn't run out and whine that there otta be a law, or try to force my disagreements of their actions upon them.
I would shake my head and walk away. You can't legislate a person's actions just because you don't like those actions when those actions don't harm anyone except for the one that has decided to act on those actions, stupid or not. And I'm talking legal substances, not illegal. For those that wish illegal substances to be legal, get the law changed in your state/federal levels and then we can add those substances into the mix.
Wayne
) What DOES matter to me is that he has the good judgment to watch where he's pointing the darned thing, and that his judgment is solid on when and when not to pull the trigger. Sudafed and Benedryl may make me sleepy, but my judgment is intact. Coffee may make me jittery (and a lousy shot), but I still have good judgment. With alcohol, some pain killers, etc. there comes a point where judgment just goes out the window. There is no distinct line at which good judgment disappears; it's a slow degradation and the danger point is different for different folks. Given that, I'd rather not bet my life on where someone's danger point is, and to err on the side of safety, I'd just as soon not shoot with someone that's taken even the first step towards that point.