Guns, cops, and dancing in bars

[andre3k]

What about being in a bar, but not drinking?

I'm glad someone said this. Seriously.

There have been plenty of times that I've chosen to stay armed and sober rather than risk it to have a few drinks or a single drink.

[TGS]

Most LEOs have the mindset of "I'm not on duty, therefore nothing can happen" so this is all just an academic exercise.

Change that mindset and we can talk about laws afterwards.

[olstyn]

Conversely, some states CCW laws or issuing agency policies prohibit drinking while carrying, others, like TX prohibit carrying in bars on your LTC and some apply the DUI/DWI bac standard to carrying. As I recall one state is .08 bac for DWI and .10 bac for CCW.

MN is the opposite - above .08 is DUI/DWI, and the limit on a permit to carry is .04. I'm *REALLY* unsure of where .04 is, so I basically just don't drink if I'm carrying and don't carry if I plan on drinking. Some states have really screwy laws, though. Wisconsin, for example (learned this when I renewed my MN carry permit this fall), makes it legal for WI residents carrying on resident permits to carry in bars as long as they're not drinking, but illegal for MN residents carrying on MN resident permits, which WI otherwise recognizes, to do the same. Your guess is as good as mine with regard to what the logic was behind that part of the law.

[Drang]

Illegal here.

As I'm sure you know, while it is illegal here to enter a bar while carrying, it IS legal here to have a drink with dinner in a restaurant, and it is legal to go into a bar in Oregon and have a drink. I have never heard of anyone getting plastered and raising up in a Red robin, or in a hipster bar in Portlandia.

[Drang]

Wisconsin, for example (learned this when I renewed my MN carry permit this fall), makes it legal for WI residents carrying on resident permits to carry in bars as long as they're not drinking, but illegal for MN residents carrying on MN resident permits, which WI otherwise recognizes, to do the same. Your guess is as good as mine with regard to what the logic was behind that part of the law.

That exceeds any interstate rivalry crap I've heard of since Woody Hayes died...

[JohnO]

That used to be Connecticut until 2016

Now I believe both are .08% in CT. Since I don't drink I never really paid attention to the numbers.

[David C.]

MN is the opposite - above .08 is DUI/DWI, and the limit on a permit to carry is .04. I'm *REALLY* unsure of where .04 is, so I basically just don't drink if I'm carrying and don't carry if I plan on drinking. Some states have really screwy laws, though. Wisconsin, for example (learned this when I renewed my MN carry permit this fall), makes it legal for WI residents carrying on resident permits to carry in bars as long as they're not drinking, but illegal for MN residents carrying on MN resident permits, which WI otherwise recognizes, to do the same. Your guess is as good as mine with regard to what the logic was behind that part of the law.

I suspect the law was written that way to prevent FIBS from Illinois carrying on an IL permit while drinking.

[idahojess]

Our policy is a wordy version of "if you've had any detectable amount of alcohol, you can only use your police authority (including use of your firearm) if it means ending a literal life threatening emergency to you or someone else, and you'll turn it over to on duty officers as soon as possible."

Sounds like a good policy -- this story about a small town cop getting charged with misdemeanor assault just showed up in Eastern Washington. No profession is immune from drunken stupidity, unfortunately.

Welch identified himself as a police officer during the altercation just before midnight and threatened to arrest another bar patron for disorderly conduct after the man approached a woman Welch was with at the time, according to court documents.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...assault-in-al/