Guns and alchohol consumption - Poll

[SteelyNirvana]

When I was in my late teens and living with my grandma I would sometimes get buzzed and do some plinking out in the yard and in a safe area. I guess I still do pop some off when I'm buzzed but thats on New Years at the stroke of midnight and I'm sure I'm not alone doing this. I seldom ever drink any more, seems like when I got in my mid 20's something in me just lost interest in partying. I never have liked the idea of mixing alcohol and guns if can be deadly if you are not completely aware of what you are doing. I do like to drink a G&T on the weekends but when I do I have enough self-restraint to leave my guns alone.

Brian Craig

 

[SuperNaut]

I know that alcoholics have difficulty with this but, do we really need to point out the difference between having a beer and getting drunk?

 

[Knotthead]

I drink but lightly these days, and never before handling loaded firearms. I like a glass of wine with dinner or a little bourbon over ice before bedtime, but my days of proving my manhood by showing how much I can drink are long gone. So put me down as one who says that guns and alcohol don't mix and couldn't find an appropriate response on the poll.

 

[Bob M.]

The only thing thats loaded is my gun.

 

[GRB]

bear71,

I did not answer the poll because as far as I read them, you gave some really poor limitations of your poll choices. I drink, I do not think it disgusting, but I make it a habit not to drink before shooting or handling firearms. Afterall that is one of the cardinal rules of firearms safety that Jeff Cooper conveniently forgot to include in his version of the rules of firearms safety:

ALCOHOL, recreational drugs, many prescription drugs, and gunpowder (firearms) don't mix!

So while I do drink, I never drink alcohol, or take prescription drugs that effect my abilities, before shooting. As for recreational drugs, I just say "no".

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[Cosmoline]

POORLY WORDED POLL

What do you mean by "USE"?? I will never drink at the range, but I don't lock up my only means of defense because I'm having a glass of wine with dinner.

do we really need to point out the difference between having a beer and getting drunk

For some there is no difference. I knew one woman who would start drinking even a pilsner and wake up days later. I've been drinking beer with meals since I was in my early teens, so the whole concept of going on benders is bizarre to me. It's just a food. But for others, the devil really does live in the bottle.

 

[fast eddie]

I didn't vote either. I never drink and shoot in combination.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I've been known to drink a beer or two on the porch on Saturday afternoon, and then shooting some pasture clays out in the field with a friend or my son. My scores suffer some, but nobody is endangered.

There's a difference between drinking and being drunk. I'm no fan of zero tolerance.

 

[MJZZZ]

No beer allowed around guns before or during shooting. No ammo allowed around guns while cleaning, but plenty of beer. Mike

 

[heypete]

Not really an option for it, but I'll go out and shoot with friends, and then have a beer while cleaning the guns. Certainly not enough to become intoxicated or even tipsy (hooray for being 210lbs and 6' tall...serves bit of an alcohol buffer), but it's pleasant to sit around with friends and have a beer.

If I'm going to the range in the evening, I might have a beer or two earlier in the day (say, while watching TV or something), but it'll be completely out of my system by the time I go and shoot. I won't shoot when I have any alcohol in my system, even though I know I could easily handle one or two beers...just seems silly for me to take even the slightest risk.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

no option for me

While I am not a tea-totaler, I have not drank
in three weeks (take it or leave it).

Alcohol tends to make me stupid(er) so its either
shoot sober, or drink after the guns are cleaned
and put away. If I have been light drinking--beer with
lunch for example--it is still three-four hours before I
feel safe to drive or shoot. Driving or shooting under
the influence proves nothing to me but stupidity.

 

[Essex County]

I'm not much of a drinker, but I've shot some of my best groups after a COUPLE of beers. Research for Elmer Kieths opinion on this subject. Essex

 

[Im283]

I have had a drink or ten before and during shooting. That was when I was young and foolish I simply did not fear it nor care.

Now that I am older but yet still foolish I may have a drink or two but never, ever while shooting or handling a weapon. If I am shooting there is really no time to be holding a beer can or cocktail anyway. I use both hands on the weapon normally and both hands for loading. Kind of makes it a non-issue.

I am not sure but I would think if you discharged a weapon even in self defense and you were lit up there may be some issues.

Someone pointed out the difference between having a beer and being drunk. Sounds like justification to me.

 

[BlkHawk73]

In my opinion, anyone voting for the last three choices has NO business having a firearm if they can have that much of a lack of respect for themselves and others and the lack of simple common sense.

 

[sm]

JohnBT wrote:
Drinking and shooting just ain't the same since they started up with those worthless aluminum beer cans. The 3-piece steel cans made great targets and you could launch them with a firecracker for aerial targets.

Well, I gotta agree and admit my age as well.

I took my last drink in March of '84.
While I probably spilled more booze than some have partaken of up until I was 28 years old in 1984, drinking and shooting is not something I did.

Before a shoot, especially a serious shoot, I did not drink.
After the shooting was done for the tourney, and the shin-dig thrown and no guns.
Yep. Party ain't over till the Keg floats...or there is nothing but empty in a bottle of fine Scotch,or Bourbon.
Neat, maybe a splash of water, or an ice cube, never both ice and water...takes up too much room for the booze in a glass.

 

[SuperNaut]

In my opinion, anyone voting for the last three choices has NO business having a firearm if they can have that much of a lack of respect for themselves and others and the lack of simple common sense.

Well, I interpreted option 6: "The guys get together after several beers and sometimes shoot." as; several beers among the group of guys, not several beers for each guy in the group.

There is a world of difference between the two, but your outrage is charming.

 

[Plink]

I never drink before or during shooting. I won't be around those who do, for safety reasons. Now afterward, heck yeah! Bring on the cold ones. But any impairment when handling weapons just isn't a good idea, in my opinion.

 

[RPCVYemen]

I know that alcoholics have difficulty with this but, do we really need to point out the difference between having a beer and getting drunk?

Do you really think that alcoholics have difficulty with the difference between having a beer and getting drunk? I am an alcoholic who's been sober a little over 21 years. I still know the difference - it's hours of sweating and cussing until the dang liquore store opens.

We know drunk from not drunk. Even towards the very end, when we don't know much else, we know that. When we find ourselves in the sate of being not drunk, we will do 'bout anything (lie, cheat, steal, end relationships, etc. ) to achieve the state of being drunk. Kowing that difference is sorta fundamental to being an alcoholic - like knowing how to quack is fundamental to being a duck.

The only note I will add is that some folks who say that drinking 3 beers is like drinking "iced tea" might be pretty surprised if they measured their reaction time/judgement. I saw a video on the news one night, and it turns out that objective measurements show the effects of surprisingly small amounts of alcohol.

In the video - it had something to do with lowering the BAC for DUIs in NC - the Highway Patrol set up an obsctacle course with traffic cones. Then they invited in a bunch of legislators. They asked legislators drink a drink, blow a breathalizer, and then drive the course. The Highway Patrol would count how many traffic cones got knocked over, and ask the legislators to repreat the cycle. As I recall, the effects started to show up with one or two drinks, while the subjects still looked, talked, and reported feeling absolutely sober. [Of course, it must be noted these legislators all being fine Baptists, none of them had so much as smelled a drop of liquor in their lives before the test].

Now I understand that fine legislators in my state may not be the sharpest tools in the shed, but the results were still surprising.

Me, I never saw the point in three beers (unless they were in the beginnig, middle, or end of a case - or you were wanting to ease into a fifth). Each to his own.

I personally can't mix living with drinking, much less shooting and drinking.

Mike

 

[SuperNaut]

I still know the difference - it's hours of sweating and cussing until the dang liquore store opens.

LOL!

I meant that alcoholics have difficulty with having just a beer, I just phrased it weird.

I should have written: I know that alcoholics have difficulty having just one beer, but for the rest of us, do we really need to point out the difference between having a beer and getting drunk?

Heh-heh, I knew what I meant!

 

[JohnBT]

Heck, it wasn't all that long ago that drinking and driving was legal in Virginia if you didn't exceed the BAC limit. Maybe 10 or 20 years. Of course, the roads weren't as crowded back then.

As of 2003 when the following was published...

"Drunk driving may be a crime in every state, but drinking while driving is still legal in three of them Indiana, Mississippi and Montana -- as long as the driver is sober."

I suppose zero tolerance will catch up with them too eventually. Now, if we can just do something about the cell phones.

John

 

[DixieTexian]

ALCOHOL, recreational drugs, many prescription drugs, and gunpowder don't mix!

Sure they do, but I bet it wouldn't taste very good. I may have a few beers while/before I am shooting. But I won't do it at a public place or with people who I don't know 100% are safe with guns. Now, I have to admit when I first got my cap and ball revolver, before I ever even got powder for it I got drunk and played with it while watching a John Wayne movie. The only damage I did was peening the nipples because I didn't know that dry firing could cause that.

 

[Clipper]

I like the taste of beer, but I'm also carrying if I'm wearing pants. What to do??? Hey, Nonalcoholic beer! Problem is, I like Rum & Coke too, so until Baccardi starts bottling NA Rum, I hafta wait until I'm home for the night before I can have any.

 

[Biker]

Fact is boys and girls, beer ain't really drinkin'.

Biker

 

[115grfmj]

Ummm...Yeah!!!!

I didn't vote!.......somethin' about guns and alcoho l.....great by themselves....but not together

 

[xd45gaper]

where is the i consume beer/whiskey but never mix them with firearms dot...