Carrying A Gun While Drunk Would Be Illegal In NY

[marksiwel]

http://wcbstv.com/local/drunk.carrying. ... 70193.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

newly introduced bill would make New York the 21st state to outlaw carrying a gun while drunk.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and state Sen. Jeffrey Klein announced the legislation Thursday.

The law would rely on the same blood alcohol level -- .08 percent -- used to determine whether a driver is drunk.

It would make it a class-A misdemeanor. The punishment would be up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Unlike most other states that have the law, New York's would not apply to hunting grounds or firing ranges.

Bloomberg and Klein said it would be too difficult to get those restrictions passed in New York.

Since 2007, the NYPD has required all officers on- or off-duty who fire their weapons and wound someone to submit to a breathalyzer test.

[joe817]

Carrying a gun while drunk in Texas is also illegal. I can only say....so what? Makes good sense to me. Guns & booze don't mix, as we've talked about ad nauseum here on the forum.

[marksiwel]

Carrying a gun while drunk in Texas is also illegal. I can only say....so what? Makes good sense to me. Guns & booze don't mix, as we've talked about ad nauseum here on the forum.

According to their Law they would have to breathalyze you! I think we should do that.

[karl]

After thinking about it, putting a number on intoxication would/could really foil things up. Just because you're intoxicated and you shoot doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't the right decision. By engraving that standard into law it would make it very hard to justify an otherwise justifiable self-defense shooting with that evidence against you.

Now I'm not advocating mixing alcohol and firearms, but some people don't consider themselves to have lost all faculties at .08 BAC. I do, but I'm not everybody.

[chabouk]

I know this is a topic, and I know I'm in the minority here, but I have to state my position once again: while I personally don't drink in public (because I don't drink and drive), I have no problem with drinking while carrying.

If you do something stupid, you should be punished for what you did, not what you've had to drink. A justified use of force is justified whether you're stone sober or falling-down drunk. An unjustified use of force is unjustified whether you're... well, you get it.

If you drink at home, do you disarm? When you disarm, do you unload and lock up your guns and ammo, and then forget where they are and how to get them out? If a home invader kicks down your door and you shoot him, does it matter if you're a tee-totaller with your gun on your hip, or legally drunk with a gun you had to retrieve from the safe? Justified is justified, drunk or sober. Negligent is negligent, drunk or sober.

[Sewer_Ice]

This law is ACTUALLY better than what we have here. It defines .08 as drunk. In Texas there is no legal limit, it's all on the officer to decide whether or not your intoxicated. If you blow a .04 and he thinks your too intoxicated to carry, it's the same as being .10

I don't want to see someone with a .23 BAC carrying, but I don't think theres an issue with a .08 carrying.

[marksiwel]

This law is ACTUALLY better than what we have here. It defines .08 as drunk. In Texas there is no legal limit, it's all on the officer to decide whether or not your intoxicated. If you blow a .04 and he thinks your too intoxicated to carry, it's the same as being .10

I don't want to see someone with a .23 BAC carrying, but I don't think theres an issue with a .08 carrying.

That was my point in posting this!

[Oldgringo]

I know this is a topic, and I know I'm in the minority here, but I have to state my position once again: while I personally don't drink in public (because I don't drink and drive), I have no problem with drinking while carrying.

If you do something stupid, you should be punished for what you did, not what you've had to drink. A justified use of force is justified whether you're stone sober or falling-down drunk. An unjustified use of force is unjustified whether you're... well, you get it.

If you drink at home, do you disarm? When you disarm, do you unload and lock up your guns and ammo, and then forget where they are and how to get them out? If a home invader kicks down your door and you shoot him, does it matter if you're a tee-totaller with your gun on your hip, or legally drunk with a gun you had to retrieve from the safe? Justified is justified, drunk or sober. Negligent is negligent, drunk or sober.

..., and, home is home.

[03Lightningrocks]

I know this is a topic, and I know I'm in the minority here, but I have to state my position once again: while I personally don't drink in public (because I don't drink and drive), I have no problem with drinking while carrying.

If you do something stupid, you should be punished for what you did, not what you've had to drink. A justified use of force is justified whether you're stone sober or falling-down drunk. An unjustified use of force is unjustified whether you're... well, you get it.

If you drink at home, do you disarm? When you disarm, do you unload and lock up your guns and ammo, and then forget where they are and how to get them out? If a home invader kicks down your door and you shoot him, does it matter if you're a tee-totaller with your gun on your hip, or legally drunk with a gun you had to retrieve from the safe? Justified is justified, drunk or sober. Negligent is negligent, drunk or sober.

This argument is just horrible. You say that operating a vehicle while drinking is bad, but operating a firearm while drinking is OK? Then you bring up what happens in a persons home. There is a world of difference between what happens in my home VS what I do while out in public. You get drunk in your own home and blast someone in your own family, it is your problem. You get drunk in public and blast someone in my family, it is my problem.

Justified is justified, drunk or sober. Negligent is negligent, drunk or sober.

This part of your argument falls apart as soon as one brings up the FACT that being drunk will most definitely increase the chances that one will be negligent. Being drunk will also affect ones ability to determine if the shooting is justified.

[03Lightningrocks]

I found this and just had to post it up here. http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of particular interest to this thread would be this one. It is about half way down the page.

Never use alcohol or over-the-counter, prescription or other drugs before or while shooting.
Alcohol, as well as any other substance likely to impair normal mental or physical bodily functions, must not be used before or while handling or shooting guns.


Now this is not on the NRA gun safety rules for religious reasons folks. This rule also does not say...don't get intoxicated. While carrying concealed one is suppose to be prepared to use the weapon, which of coarse includes handling the gun.

I have to say something here. I have been around guns all my life. My father and my fathers fathers were hunters and shooters. I have hunted with many folks and have known all levels of experienced shooters. It was drummed into me from the days as far back as my memory will take me that firearms and alcohol don't mix. In forty plus years of hunting, every group I have ever hunted with had some sort of rules concerning alcohol and firearms not being assessable at the same time. ALL of the folks I have been shooting with, that have been shooting for many years, don't and would never drink while carrying a firearm. Admit it or not, even one drink DOES affect your ability to reason and react, regardless of how minuscule it may be. You have introduced a limiting factor in your abilities that does not HAVE to be there. This has nothing to do with religious beliefs. It is 100% just good ole fashion common sense. Just like the rule about looking both ways before crossing the road.

I realize there are all levels of experience on this forum. My belief is that the lower the level of experience, the more likely one is to underestimate the dangers of drinking while carrying a firearm.

[hirundo82]

Zero tolerance with guns and alcohol seems to be a uniquely American hangup. It's perfectly accepted in many parts of the world to have a beer while shooting at the range--the Swiss frequently sell beer at the range.

Personally, I'll have a beer while I'm carrying, same as I'll drive after drinking a beer. I know my alcohol tolerance, and one beer won't even give me a slight buzz. I think New York's proposed law is quite sensible (never thought I'd say that about a gun law proposed by Mayor Bloomberg) and, as previously stated, is better than Texas law in the area.

[marksiwel]

Zero tolerance with guns and alcohol seems to be a uniquely American hangup. It's perfectly accepted in many parts of the world to have a beer while shooting at the range--the Swiss frequently sell beer at the range.

Personally, I'll have a beer while I'm carrying, same as I'll drive after drinking a beer. I know my alcohol tolerance, and one beer won't even give me a slight buzz. I think New York's proposed law is quite sensible (never thought I'd say that about a gun law proposed by Mayor Bloomberg) and, as previously stated, is better than Texas law in the area.