Saw something interesting tonight..

[peterock]

ive managed several bars in my day, i institute a no weapon policy across the board. It isnt for responsible firearms owners, it's for the idiots with no self control. On that note, I do not believe firearms and drinking mix well...two beers, fine, ten beers and three grandmarnier neat...not fine.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

You know, I've never beaten anyone with a baseball bat while drunk, nor have I ever pulled my knife and cut another while drunk. I don't recall a time when I used any tool or object against another person while drunk unless provoked. For this reason, I don't see a problem. I carry when I go out, and sometimes I get drunk too. While it may bring our subconscious or true feelings to the surface, alcohol does not change who we are or cause our integrity/beliefs to change. Heck, I'm going out tonight for my birthday and getting drunk. Guess what? I'll have my gun at my side too, and next weekend when my friend comes from TN to visit, we're going to a bar to see another friends band, be carrying then too.........I see no reason to be unprotected just because we're having a good time. Not carrying because one plans to drink is like not using a condom because you've been drinking....

 

[paddling_man]

You know, I've never beaten anyone with a baseball bat while drunk, nor have I ever pulled my knife and cut another while drunk.

While I fundamentally agree with the above and believe I could make the same statement about myself...

I don't recall a time when I used any tool or object against another person while drunk unless provoked. For this reason, I don't see a problem. I carry when I go out, and sometimes I get drunk too. While it may bring our subconscious or true feelings to the surface, alcohol does not change who we are or cause our integrity/beliefs to change. Heck, I'm going out tonight for my birthday and getting drunk. Guess what? I'll have my gun at my side too, and next weekend when my friend comes from TN to visit, we're going to a bar to see another friends band, be carrying then too.........I see no reason to be unprotected just because we're having a good time. Not carrying because one plans to drink is like not using a condom because you've been drinking....

- I believe a better analogy is "not carrying because one plans to [edit] GET DRUNK is like not driving because one [edit] GETS DRUNK."

My distinction being:
a) one who drinks (has a moderate amount of alcohol) and
b) one who gets drunk : excessive alcohol, slurred speech, poor reflexes, impaired judgment -
Drunk –adjective - being in a temporary state in which one's physical and mental faculties are impaired by an excess of alcoholic drink; intoxicated.

Happy birthday. Your birthday is only a couple of days before mine.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

I'll go out to the bar and have 2 maybe 3 beers and I'll carry. I know my limits and have 2 and half beers I get gassy and no one will sit around me.

But yeah, I carry everywhere.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Baune, welcome to Indiana. Now, get the license.

I've always thought that you can't carry inside a bar.

Rhino, you owe me another case of .45.

Behold Kirk's First Law of the Internet.

Ye shall all obey Kirk's First Law! *thunder, thunder, rumbling*

Keep in mind Kirk's Rule on Booze: if I am looking to get plowed with my buddies, I'll leave the guns home. My dad told me: you can have all the beer you want, or all the guns you want, but not both.

If I am out at dinner and I want a glass of wine or a beer, no big deal. If I am out "celebrating" (I am now too long in the tooth for that), then I leave the guns home.

Because of recent health issues (my body sloshes from steroids), I don't drink, but when I did I followed that advice. HTH.

 

[dyerwatcher]

I go out to dinner a couple of nights a week - I always carry. I normally have a beer or possibly two, but I am never intoxicated and always in control. I carry everywhere I go (As long as it is legal). I tend not to change my lifestyle as I consider that a freedom also. Although my lifestyle is to always be in control.

 

[Pami]

Hmm. I thought it wasn't legal to carry in a bar. I just looked in the FAQ, and I didn't see anything about that. Holy crap

Good point. It is now in the FAQ.

 

[tom1025]

I was at a casual dining restaurant tonight enjoying some beers. Then my wife taps me a few times and tells me the the guy sitting to her left is carrying, sure enough about 4" of a barrel are peaking out under his sweater, then I also notice he's about 1/2 way done with a tall 22 OZ beer... Long story short, he had at least 3 talls so almost a six pack.

Now i'm all for carrying, concealed or open. I'm in the process of getting my IN LTCH. I'm still a new resident of IN and have been carrying here as a ND resident with a ND and UT CCW permit. I've always thought that you can't carry inside a bar. You can carry inside a restaurant as long as you're not drinking. I don't know this guys situation/job, didn't want to ask him about anything and possibly put him on the spot, but logic tells me, if you're carrying, and forced to use it and god forbid the police report or bar records show that you've been drinking prior to using deadly force, that's not going to work out in your favor in court. What are your guys' thoughts??

I say mind your own buisness. We are all responsible for our own actions. Unless you are a LEO then you dont have the right to question someone who is carrying. just my .

 

[youngda9]

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Pami, can we put the fact that rhino owes me a case of .45 whenever someone cites the law of another state in the FAQ?

 

[rhino]

Pami, can we put the fact that rhino owes me a case of .45 whenever someone cites the law of another state in the FAQ?

SOMEone in this topic is clearly a pseudo-liberal, socialist-statist, progressive Democrat! The tactic of repeating something until it becomes The Truth is incriminating evidence!

I don't drink alcohol (at all), but sometimes I go to bars for other reasons (like the Tenderloins at Top Notch in Brookston or the Elk Burgers at Corner Tavern in Cicero). I've open carried in almost every bar I've entered in the last couple of years.

 

[indytechnerd]

I carried into the bar area of the TGIFridays at 38th and 465 on Friday. It was right after I got to inspect the locked gate at MCFG. I wasn't OC, but I was definitely printing. OWB and a snug shirt made more snug by yummy food.

 

[Bigum1969]

Drinking and firearms are not a good combination.

I don't drink and drive. In fact, I rarely drink at all.

I certainly wouldn't get drunk and carry a gun.

But in all honesty, I wouldn't get drunk in a public place surrounded by a whole bunch of people anyhow.

 

[revance]

Another issue to consider is that while it is not against the law to drink and carry and you very well may be found rightfull in your descion to shoot in a criminal case.............that does not mean it will turn out that way in a civil hearing. .

NO!

That is not an issue at all. In Indiana you cannot be held liable in civil court for using lethal force in self defense unless you were convicted of a crime. So if it was justified use of lethal force and you are not charged and convicted of a crime, they can't sue you (at least not successfully).

 

[IndyGunSafety]

Hmm. I thought it wasn't legal to carry in a bar. I just looked in the FAQ, and I didn't see anything about that. Holy crap

The Indiana code does not provide for any penalty for drinking while carrying. There was a provision at the end of the bill that stipulated a blood alcohol content but it was cut out.

It is legal to carry into a bar.

It is legal to drink at the bar.

While it’s illegal to be intoxicated in public, it IS NOT illegal to be intoxicated while carrying a firearm.

We are fortunate that in at least some respects, Indiana law leaves common sense up to the law abiding citizen.

Is it reasonable and prudent to drink while carrying or be intoxicated while carrying? I don't think so. I may have "A" drink with dinner from time to time. That is a limitation imposed on myself. If we are reasonable the government may not impose more.

Another thing to consider is action against your LTCH. While you may not be charged with a crime it is possible to have administrative action against your LTCH. Food for thought.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

SOMEone in this topic is clearly a pseudo-liberal, socialist-statist, progressive Democrat! The tactic of repeating something until it becomes The Truth is incriminating evidence!

Looks about . . . now who would THAT be, rhino. I can't help it if you owe me a case of .45acp everytime someone cites another state's law. Everyone here knows its the law to give Kirk a case of .45, heck it should be in the FAQ or something.

 

[MontereyC6]

I carried into the bar area of the TGIFridays at 38th and 465 on Friday. It was right after I got to inspect the locked gate at MCFG. I wasn't OC, but I was definitely printing. OWB and a snug shirt made more snug by yummy food.

So you were on the west side Friday, in the bar at Fridays, AND went to MCF&G, and you didn't let me know. I'm really disappointed....(and I have a key...)

As far as the topic of the OP, IMHO, it all comes down to common sense. My days of going out and drinking a case of beer are long behind me, but I still enjoy a couple beers or glasses of wine with dinner and my lady. I have a responsibility to myself and to others to make good decisions while I'm carrying. Does a couple of drinks change me ability to make good decisions? I hate to say no it doesn't, but if I'm involved in a SD shooting, I still have to live with the consequences of my decisions, being in the right, or not.

 

[LCPer]

You know it seems pretty simple to me.

If you carry DON'T drink alcohol, it's that simple. If you FEEL it's OK to drink alcohol while carrying you have a much bigger problem and are probably not really mature enough to be carrying in the first place. It's not really worth the chance you are taking. These two materials just plainly DO NOT go together. One of the first things I was taught about firearms. Also before you go off on my post STOP for a moment and give some thought to what I have just said.

 

[Cozy439]

Maybe I missed it, but 1 aspect I have not seen yet is the WHY you may need your weapon. No one has mentioned that (speaking for myself) we don't go out EXPECTING to need our weapons, but you don't get to choose when some low life will cross your path with bad intent - that to me is the important thing. By habit (and CHOICE), I don't put myself in a position where I expect to NEED my weapon. I don't often carry - I have a full-time and a part-time job that by state law or city ordinance prohibits carrying on the grounds. That being said, I do carry often when we go out to shop or to eat, whether that is with or with-out alcohol. I do agree with everyone that says booze and guns don't mix. When out hunting or shooting with friends and family we often FINISH the day with a beer or 2, but that is after the guns are put away. For the vast majority of us - mature, responsible, level-headed, legal gun owners the question you have to ask yourself is: Would you rather be at a time and place when you need a weapon, and HAVE IT or NOT HAVE IT? After you asnwer that you can do all the WHAT IF's and second guess what a judge, or jury or cop, (or coroner) may have to do to you later.

 

[theturtle06]

There doesn't seem to be any laws against possessing a gun while intoxicated, however there is this:

IC 35-47-4-1
Delivery of deadly weapon to intoxicated person
Sec. 1. A person who sells, barters, gives, or delivers any deadly weapon to any person at the time in a state of intoxication, knowing him to be in a state of intoxication, or to any person who is in the habit of becoming intoxicated, and knowing him to be a person who is in the habit of becoming intoxicated, commits a Class B misdemeanor.
As added by P.L.311-1983, SEC.32.

I would imagine that you would have some poop thrown your way if you indeed had to use it, plus there could be something to be said about poor judgment and bad aim. It seems every so often you hear about a ND from some jackhole trying to show off his new gun while in a bar...I can think of one around these parts a few months ago, dude didn't have a LTCH IIRC.

To each his own, I'll carry to a restaurant and have a drink, but I know what I can handle and don't push it while I'm out anyhow.

Ok now that seems a bit silly to me. The law at least, that is. Some people occasionally drink a bit too much and get "intoxicated." That could be construed to "the habit of being/getting intoxicated." I do drink but never handle any firearm while or after having been drinking but there is an extreme amount of leeway in this law. Too much in my eyes in fact.