Carrying a gun and stopping for a beer...no not a good idea; scenario for feedback.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Yes, each individual is different. Some shouldn't drive, handle machinery, etc. after a drink, while some are ok. That is why DWI laws have the .08/.10 limit and then also have a deal where you can be arrested for DWI even if not at .08/.10 where you are obviously intoxicated acting, swaying, sluring words because some people may be at .05 (possibly two drinks).

Driving, dangerous equipment, etc. is each person's call if within the laws after having a drink with say a meal. It is true that some states do not have laws against people having drinks while carrying handguns in bars/restaurants open to public as long as that person is not intoxicated. There are probably more of those states than the states that don't allow it. I can think of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida off the top of my head that do not have laws against having a drink in a restaurant while carrying a handgun. Now you get drunk/intoxicated whatever it is called in that state, that is a different story. You are in deep trouble and rightly so.

Exactly. I just found the tone of a few posts on this thread to be a little over-the-top with the whole "you're an irresponsible person if you even remotely think about stopping for a beer or two while you have a CCW with you, and if you can't control yourself any better than that, you're probably a borderline alcoholic" stance that they took. Like I said, I get it. Don't drink and play with guns. I agree with that, but if I grab a beer with dinner, that hardly makes me irresponsible or dangerous. I used to arrest drunks for a living, so I know the difference.

[mikegideon]

I have done some serious drinking in my life, and have always owned handguns. Most of that time, it was a high capacity 9mm pistol. I didn't carry it around much, but it was always within reach when I was home. I have come to the conclusion that I will pass out way before I decide to start shooting. We hear this statement all the time, that guns and alcohol don't mix. In reality, shooting and alcohol don't mix.

You're either an idiot, or you're not. Our lawmakers assume we're all idiots.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I have done some serious drinking in my life, and have always owned handguns. Most of that time, it was a high capacity 9mm pistol. I didn't carry it around much, but it was always within reach when I was home. I have come to the conclusion that I will pass out way before I decide to start shooting. We hear this statement all the time, that guns and alcohol don't mix. In reality, shooting and alcohol don't mix.

You're either an idiot, or you're not. Our lawmakers assume we're all idiots.

It may be a stronger case that some legal prescription drugs + guns don't mix, even with non-idiots. I agree that a non-idiot will get drunk at home with a gun on the table and never shoot anybody.

However some anti-depressants and ADHD drugs in a percentage of people cause suicidal thoughts in otherwise not-incredibly-abnormal people. I've talked to people who got suicidal thoughts from medication, and they said it is difficult to explain. Sudden STRONG suicidal impulses. So if starting on such a drug, it might be a good idea to at least lock up the guns for a week or two.

The "miracle anti-smoking wonder drug" Chantix-- Maybe it really is wonderful for some folks, but it really messes up a percentage of folks who take it. Suicidal thoughts in some and great undirected anger in others.

I tried that dang medication and it did make me quit smoking, but after a couple of weeks caused massive undirected rage. Never felt that way before. Then cold-turkeyed on the stuff and got worse for a couple of days. From my experience I think the FDA should never have approved that stuff.

Anyway, if you try chantix you might want to lock up the guns for a couple of weeks until you see how you feel.

[mikegideon]

i won't even try Chantix. My doctor has suggested it more than once. I'm too pissed off, and too heavily armed to play with that drug. Besides, I think our medical profession relies too heavily on chemical fixes. You can't always count on their best judgement when it comes to the most popular drugs.

[Guest kirkosaurus]

If I am out and decide to have a drink, I just lock the pistol up in the car. I never drink to the point of intoxication (literally 1 beer with dinner), so I see no significant risk in doing that. The risk involved is no worse than sitting at home drinking a beer with my entire gun collection nearby. I totally get the "alcohol and guns don't mix" argument, but let's be realistic here. One or two drinks doesn't suddenly turn someone into an inebriated stark-raving lunatic. If it did, there would be literally millions of shootings every year.

I've done this several times. Been sitting in a restaurant and decide I want a beer so I go out to the car, disarm and lock it up.

1 beer during the course of a full meal isn't enough to make me "under the influence" by the time I get back out to my car.

I'm finding most of the time I'd rather carry than enjoy that beer though!

[vontar]

Wanting to carry my gun with me everywhere I go has helped me to give up alcohol!

It has reduced my drinking when I go out. I decide if I want to carry or not. My wife likes it, she does not have to drive home as much and she gets to drink a bit more. It is cheaper too, she does not drink as much as me.

I totally get the "alcohol and guns don't mix" argument, but let's be realistic here. One or two drinks doesn't suddenly turn someone into an inebriated stark-raving lunatic. If it did, there would be literally millions of shootings every year.

Allot of truth in that.

[DWARREN123]

Really simple answer is if you carry do not drink alcoholic drinks no matter the circumstance. If you drink do not carry. This will help to keep you out of jail/prison.

[mikegideon]

Really simple answer is if you carry do not drink alcoholic drinks no matter the circumstance. If you drink do not carry. This will help to keep you out of jail/prison.

That's the way I handle it... until they outlaw something else.

[Guest don_m]

It is true that some states do not have laws against people having drinks while carrying handguns in bars/restaurants open to public as long as that person is not intoxicated. There are probably more of those states than the states that don't allow it. I can think of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida off the top of my head that do not have laws against having a drink in a restaurant while carrying a handgun. Now you get drunk/intoxicated whatever it is called in that state, that is a different story.

You can add to your list Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey (though you're not important enough to defend yourself there unless you're a big celebrity). The blood in the streets is . . . well, it must be around here somewhere -- the Brady people said so.

[Guest Jvanhoosen]

I have an additional question along that line. Would O'douls be considered an alcoholic beverage? Considering it is .005% alcohol by volume.

[SithL0rd]

This is a discussion we've had at work many times. Say you have a safe in your vehicle. Is locking it in there good enough to be considered not carrying if you wish to go have a beer after work? Or does the fact that its still in your possession still make it illegal?

[Guest 270win]

It is against the law in Tennessee to be 'under the influence' while in possession of a handgun. It is against the law to be 'under the influence' while driving a car.

There is no law against having a drink while in POSSESSION of a handgun in TN, except in places open to the public (public restaurants/bars) that SERVE alcohol and beer.

It is your call on if you are 'under the influence' by the time you get done with your drink in the restaurant and you come back to your vehicle that has your gun in it. If you are 'under the influence' after a drink with a meal, then you shouldn't handle any dangerous equipment, whether that be a vehicle, lawn mower, or firearm. Most people aren't intoxicated/under the influence, but a few are. That's my opinion.

I carry a handgun while having a drink with my meal in a restaurant in other states where there is no law against it because I am not intoxicated/under the influence. I can also drive a car just fine after my meal. We are talking one drink, not two, or three or more.

Use common sense or you shouldn't be carrying in the first place. TN is one of the most anti alcohol states I have ever been to. Where else can you not buy a beer at the liquor store and ice for your beer? That should tell you why you hear all those "NO BOOZE", "Alcohol kills", etc. stuff. People around here think you'll go nuts drinking a cold bottle of beer with catfish.

Edited April 8, 2011 by 270win

[JayC]

It's simply a matter of priority. Beer is not a priority. Defense of my family and myself is.

+1

[Guest rsgillmd]

I have an additional question along that line. Would O'douls be considered an alcoholic beverage? Considering it is .005% alcohol by volume.

I would say it depends.....on your definition of an alcoholic beverage. My definition would be any beverage that contains alcohol. While 0.005% is small, it is still alcohol. So by my definition, yes it is an alcoholic beverage.

Are you sure that is the exact alcohol content or are you just making a guess? Doesn't seem worth it to put that small amount of alcohol into a beverage unless you are selling it in gallons. I don't know what the volume of an O'douls is because I don't drink alcohol.

Or was this supposed to be a rhetorical question?

[Guest rsgillmd]

Addendum: I did a quick Google search. Various sites list the alcohol content of O'douls at 0.4%, as compared to 4-5% of a typical beer. Not 0.005% like was posted. So if you drink enough, you can still get drunk.

I would definitely consider it an alcoholic beverage despite it being marketed as non-alcoholic.

[Oh Shoot]

Addendum: I did a quick Google search. Various sites list the alcohol content of O'douls at 0.4%, as compared to 4-5% of a typical beer. Not 0.005% like was posted. So if you drink enough, you can still get drunk...

No human on earth could drink enough .4% beer to hit .08 BAC.

If two 4% beers could make you legally drunk, that would take 20 .4% beers. And PDQuickly consumed, too, as the first 5-10 of them would already be metabolized before the second 10 could be consumed. Not to mention the delay of a piss break every beer after the first 6 or so.

Buuuurrrrrppppp!

"non alcoholic beers" have that little bit of trace alcohol because they really are brewed, and nobody has figgered out how to make them completely alcohol free and still taste like beer.

- OS

[Worriedman]

I had to laugh at the idea of someone taking along a designated armed driver when you decide to go out drinking at night.

That sounds like something that goes on in Latin America or other places overseas where you have your driver who is also your personal armed guard. It is also probably necessary in closer places like Memphis! Maybe we have discovered a new business for high crime areas. Designated armed drivers to the bars for hire.

We do "Designated Driver/Shooter" all the time up here in Jackson. I have friends that come in from Gibson Co., they like to have some wine with dinner, so the wife and the friends get to partake, and I do the DD/S duty. If you do not see the need for such an arrangement, you do not keep up with the crime statistics in Madison Co. It is safer to leave your home in DC or Chicago than Jackson. Our City Chief of Police opined that it is a real good idea at the TFA meeting he attended a few months back when we asked him to give us some help in thoughts on surviving the 13th most dangerous municipality in the US.

[Guest carter]

hum... all this is making me think i should not have carried and went to OutBack the other evening... i thought u could carry in places that served alcohol and food? can you not? i had a coke, blummin onion, and 12oz ribeye... then had to be rolled out cause i was so stuffed... i didnt see a gun buster sign any where... they had a sign up by the bar...but thought that law had changed and was obsilete...

someone stated above "You can't be in a place 'open to the public' that serves liquor and beer and possess a handgun while drinking anything in Tennessee."

also controlled substances include prescription drugs... that i know for sure

[Guest friesepferd]

hum... all this is making me think i should not have carried and went to OutBack the other evening... i thought u could carry in places that served alcohol and food? can you not? i had a coke, blummin onion, and 12oz ribeye... then had to be rolled out cause i was so stuffed... i didnt see a gun buster sign any where... they had a sign up by the bar...but thought that law had changed and was obsilete...

someone stated above "You can't be in a place 'open to the public' that serves liquor and beer and possess a handgun while drinking anything in Tennessee."

also controlled substances include prescription drugs... that i know for sure

no fear. you can carry in a place that serves alcohol. this thread is a discussion on what to do if you actually wanted to have an alcoholic drink while there.

[Guest carter]

that's what i was thinking...but ANYTHING means a glass of water to me...

[Guest 270win]

Where I'm from, drinking refers to drinking liquor, beer, or wine when I referred to drinking 'anything'.

In TN, I rarely drink in restaurants/bars because I usually have a handgun on me. Drinks are also very expensive. You can buy a bottle of of wine or a six pack of beer for what it cost sometimes to buy two beers/glasses of wine at a restaurant.

Save that money and buy more ammo.

[shane_huskey]

I agree with the point made by a few in here, and disagree with many others. I think the "You are ignorant if you even think about the words alcohol and firearm in the same lifetime" viewpoint is about as ignorant as it gets. No, you should not plan on going out and drinking when you are planning on handling firearms, but where did anyone ask that? The question was is it illegal to have a drink while carrying your gun. As far as I remember, carrying a firearm is one of many ways to express your freedom. Is being able to freely have a beer or two with friends also not doing the exact same thing? Quit being so quick to look down on someone just because they enjoy their freedom differently than you do.

That being said, the TCA has been quoted in here and it clearly states that while at a public establishment, regardless of whether you are allowed to carry a firearm there or not, it is unlawful to drink an alcoholic drink. It has also been brought up that you can leave your weapon in your vehicle since it is your personal property. Keep in mind that if your car is on the establishment’s property and they don't allow weapons, you are not allowed to have a weapon in your vehicle because it is on their property. Although it is not legal for them to search your car, they can ask you to move it if they suspect a gun in your vehicle and if you refuse, they can have you towed off of their property. Also, if it made it that far, the cops would probably be called by the manager of the establishment. But that is all a different topic; I actually stated this paragraph to show my disgust with the current law stating that you cannot drink while carrying. I agree more with the other state's laws citing that it is not unlawful to carry while drinking unless you become intoxicated, not necessarily based on BAC but at public discretion (most likely by a police officer). I pose a scenario that perhaps should be thought about. I, being a law abiding citizen and TN HCP holder, decide to go riding around with a few friends. We are all on motorcycles and decide to stop in for a rest at a bar. While at this bar, all of us being over the legal drinking limit, decide we would like to have a cold beer while we cool off from the heat. Under the current law, we could leave our weapons on our bikes (which may or may not have storage, lockable storage is even more rare) or we could just not drink. My options have been reduced to leaving my handgun unsecured on my motorcycle, or not being allowed to have a beer. Keep in mind, we are on motorcycles (and are responsible motorcycle riders), so none of us are planning on drinking any more than one or two and remaining far from the legal intoxication limit. I feel that in stating that you can only exercise a right under certain conditions that is in fact infringement. Yes this applies to other rights also such as you can say whatever you want as long as you aren’t stepping on someone else’s toes, but it is still in fact infringing upon one’s rights.

Just my opinion, sorry about the long post.

[Oh Shoot]

... Keep in mind that if your car is on the establishment’s property and they don't allow weapons, you are not allowed to have a weapon in your vehicle because it is on their property. ,,,

Only if the parking lot itself is posted.

- OS

[Grunt67]

This reminds one of the old argument, "I drive better when I'm drinking". I'm 100%

for the right to carry in establishments that serve/sell alcohol. Drinking while carrying

is a bad idea, period. Not everyone responds the same to one drink, two drinks, etc.

Not all that difficult to choose between drinking or carrying. Pick one.

[Guest 270win]

Shane,

As far as I can tell, there is not a law against having a beer while carrying a handgun as long as you are not carrying the handgun in a place open to the public that serves alcohol. Let's say you are at a buddy's house and he hands you a beer. That would seem legal if you are carrying and have a beer and burger with your buddy. Now what would seem to be illegal if you were at your buddy's house is if you were 'under the influence' of alcohol while possessing the handgun. Now most folks won't be just having say a beer and burger at their buddy's house. That is your call at least in private thankfully.

'Under the influence' is a judgement call up to the charging police and prosecutor. I'd say if you shouldn't be driving from your friend's house after drinking you shouldn't be carrying. If you can drive after having a beer, then you can safely carry. Each person is different.