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Here's my take on the "coming from a winery" scenario. I think if you have a good shoot, it's going to be good whether or not you have had a drink.

The issue of possible intoxication could come up if your shooting was not lawful and you were charged. If you are charged, the DA's job is to convict you. He will do anything legal to do so. If the DA thinks that your drinking affected your judgement as to the illegal shooting he would bring try to bring it into evidence. As HankB says, that is one reason not to have Q&A sessions with LEOs where you could make incriminating statements before you consult with your lawyer. Of course it could be used against you in a civil suit if you injured an innocent, but the question was about DAs, not a civil trial.

After reading this thread I am starting to see why so many people are so reluctant to defend themselves again criminals. Constantly hearing statements like "every bullet has a lawyer attached to it" they get so afraid that they will arrested or sued that they think it's better to "take their chances" with the criminals.

My opinion is that just one drink affects one's judgment to some extent in such a way that he or she should not have a deadly weapon within reach.

What if you were at home drinking the bottle of wine that you bought at the winery and somebody with a gun broke down your door. Are you going to do nothing because you're drinking or are you going to defend yourself? What is the difference if you are outside your house or inside if somebody attacks you with deadly force? In both situations you have a legal right to use deadly force.

By the way, I don't drink when I am carrying.

bdickens wrote:FWIW: Most people don't actually drink the wine, they just taste it and spit it out.

If they are working, professional tasters and winery employees spit out the wine, but winery and tasting room visitors drink the wine. Unless it's a really bad wine.

Shooting Star - The subject of "zero tolerance" has come up many times and each person has their own opinion. Many people also have a designated driver policy so, depending on the posting status, they may have the option to carry at the winery or tasting room without drinking a drop.

Thanks for your input Stephen.

I think we need Steve Rothstein to check in here. [He works for TABC].

FWIW - I would think that most wineries would not be 51% because they sell more wine for consumption off premise. Tasting rooms are not supposed to be bars. Their purpose is to allow customers to taste the wine so that they can sell bottles [or cases] for them to take home.