Carrying While Drinking/Impaired
Rob PincusDescription
Think carefully about the appropriate and inappropriate times to have access to firearms. If our judgment is impaired and we can’t operate at our best, a firearm may not be a good choice of defensive tool. Rob Pincus explains why.
Carrying a defensive firearm is always a matter of compromises, and those compromises go beyond the obvious issues of comfort and concealability or how much training to have or how many accessories to buy.
DRINKING ALCOHOL
Rob often chooses concealed carry of a handgun as his way to be prepared to defend himself and others in the event of a worst-case scenario when in public space. One of the times he does not choose to carry a handgun in public is when he knows he’s going to be drinking alcohol, for example when going out to dinner, going to a bar with friends, or playing pool. In these circumstances, he may carry defensive tools but he will specifically not choose a firearm as one of those tools, as his judgment and/or motor skills may become impaired.
Rob is talking about responsibility here, not legal issues.
OTHER CAUSES OF IMPAIRMENT
Marijuana use and taking prescription or even over-the-counter drugs are other times to think about your judgment being impaired or your ability to apply your defensive shooting skills responsibly being impaired.
Mental health issues are also possible causes of impairment, especially ones related to going onto or off of drugs that may affect your judgment, or if you have issues with anger, rage, or depression, which may lead to suicidal tendencies. These are times you do not want to have immediate access to a firearm.
RESPONSIBILITY
Rob stresses that these are all issues of responsibility. He is not talking about himself or anyone else telling you that you cannot have a firearm (though he does mention some legal issues involved). He lists some of the other compromises and sacrifices we make in order to be better prepared to defend ourselves. This is another of those compromises, and one of the important self-defense concepts.
Jeopardizing our legal ability to own firearms forever by carrying a firearm in a situation where our judgment and motor skills are impaired and we might end up hurting ourselves or other people? Rob considers this unnecessarily risky.
Carrying a defensive tool, especially a firearm is always going to be a matter of compromises. There's the obvious issues of comfort and concealability when it comes to carrying a handgun. Are you gonna carry it openly? Probably not. You're gonna conceal it. Well, there's a difference between the gun you can get away with with a heavy jacket and one that you need to conceal when you just have a tucked in polo shirt. Other issues of training and preparation to use the firearm, the cost of the firearm and the holster, and any other accessories you might be interested in carrying. And of course, the training and preparation that leads to you being able to use the firearm effectively, all of these things are the issues of compromises that you have to consider. Now, I often say that I would surround myself with a platoon of Marines if I really wanted to be safe. But because that's not very practical or even an available option for me, carrying a concealed handgun is a choice that I make quite frequently to be prepared to defend myself or those that I care about in a worst case scenario in the public space. But one of the times that I definitely don't make that choice is when I know that I'm going to be drinking. Now, we're gonna use drinking right now as an example because I do partake of alcohol and I do drink in public spaces. When I go out to dinner, go out with friends, I'm in a bar, I'm playing pool, whatever it may be. In those circumstances, I may have defensive tools but I'm specifically not going to choose a firearm as a defensive tool in those moments. There are other ways that you might be impaired. If you live in a state with recreational marijuana laws, we know that there are restrictions against overlapping marijuana use and possession of marijuana and possession of firearms because marijuana is still a controlled substance at the federal level. But right now, I'm talking about responsibility, not legal issues. So if you are someone who is around marijuana and you're in that environment and you may be worried about secondhand smoke, it may affect you, it may impair your judgment, it may specifically impair your motor skills. Well, then that would be a bad time to be carrying a firearm. This also affects you in the situation where you're using over the counter drugs or prescription medication. Another time to think about your judgment being impaired, or your ability to actually apply your defensive shooting skills responsibly being impaired by something that's completely reasonable, and in fact, being prescribed to you literally by a doctor to help you with some other kind of a situation. The last area of impairment I wanna talk about is mental health issues. If there's mental issues, especially ones related to going onto or off of drugs that can affect your judgment, or if you just have issues with anger, with rage, maybe with depression, in terms of suicidal tendencies, then this may be another time that you're not going to wanna have immediate access to a firearm. These are all issues of responsibility. We're not talking about me or anyone else telling you you can't have a firearm. Although again, I alluded earlier to some of the legal issues that are involved. I'm talking about your responsibility. That compromise that we make to wear a little bit more heavy clothing, to wear an extra layer, to deal with the discomfort of inside the waistband carry. To spend the money on the ammunition and the time it takes to go train and practice to be ready, all of those compromises and sacrifices that we make we justify by being better prepared to defend ourselves. But to jeopardize our legal ability forever to own firearms, to be able to use firearms to defend ourselves, to carry firearms in public, by risking the carrying of a gun in a situation when our judgment is impaired. And of course, we might end up hurting ourselves or other people, that just seems unnecessarily risky to me. And it's a compromise that I'm not willing to make. I advise you also to think really carefully about the appropriate times to have access to firearms, and the inappropriate times. Being armed with a firearm is a great option in a lot of situations, but it's not the only option when it comes to being prepared to defend yourself. And remember, that compromise that we make when we decide to go out drinking or do anything else that's going to keep us from being able to operate as well as we possibly can in a sober, cogent moment. Well, that's a compromise that comes with risk. And one of those areas of risk might be that you simply aren't armed with a gun while you're doing that. I think that would be the responsible choice.
While Rob separates the legal issues, those are very important. As a park ranger, I’ve had to deal with people out for a nice weekend getting drunk and carrying and/or using their firearms, which is illegal in the state. Inevitably, they claim the guns are for protection against bears, though should they shoot beats just nearby but not threatening, they’d be charged with illegal taking of wildlife. Some even drove drunk (or stoned) while holding firearms—in their hands or on their laps. So, DUI and illegal possession of firearms while intoxicated. Not the safest way for park staff and visitors to do their work or have a good time. One group was even throwing rounds in their campfire because they liked the sound of the rounds popping off. And they had a bunch of kids and nearby campsites. What I’m suggesting is that Second Amendment rights are no more—or less—important than other peoples’ rights. Used responsibly, firearms are good tools. Used irresponsibly, they lead to many of the issues that gun control advocates use against the Second Amendment.