“Alcohol makes food less bland, other people less tedious”
Christopher Hitchens
“Intoxicated?”
As criminal-defense attorneys remind us, “drinking and driving” is not illegal. What is illegal is “driving while intoxicated,” and “intoxicated” in most states is vaguely defined as blowing a .08 or greater.
In our modern era, consumption of ethyl-alcoholic beverages has been legal in this country since 1933 (when Prohibition was repealed at the federal level), and I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of Americans who today occasionally enjoy alcoholic beverages are not “alcoholics,” although some are.
When a driver is involved in an traffic accident and subsequently blows a .04, he will probably not be charged with DWI, but may be cited for other violations, and when he is sued in civil court by an injured party, the fact that he “had been drinking” will surely not be helpful in his defense!
So, while “drinking and driving” may or may not represent a criminal offense, most members of most juries will look upon the practice as “inherently negligent,” no matter the exact measurement of blood/alcohol content.
Now, we come to the practice of “going armed”
Is any amount of drinking by a person who is carrying a concealed pistol (whether he is driving or not) going to be considered “inherently negligent,” by police, investigators, prosecutors, the media, judges, and juries?
Opinions are all over the map, and vary from region to region, state to state. My opinion is that the answer to the above question is almost always going to be “Yes!”
I don’t think there is any way around this issue. When you go armed in public, you can’t drink at all, not even a little bit. And for people who are not alcoholics, but do enjoy a cocktail or a beer now and then, and also routinely carry guns, there is no completely satisfactory answer to this sticky conundrum.
The only sure way to address the issue of “going armed as routine personal practice,” is to be a non-drinker (“teetotaler,” if you prefer).
For those who go armed, but do enjoy an occasional alcoholic beverage, best practice is to enjoy the cocktail or beer as among the last things you do before going to bed. Risk still attaches to even that conservative personal policy, but it may be the best we can do.
Obviously, this is yet another serious question to which I have no good answer, or at least an answer that will be acceptable for everyone.
But, it is a real issue of which we all need to be acutely aware, and address in the most responsible way we can.
/John
