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Scire.Factor wrote:I find FL to be more CCW friendly compared to TX. .... Plus the law with the bar thing doesnt effect me because if I go to Chili's or Applebees - I will sit at the dining section and have 1 beer (if at all).

I didn't mean that Texas has more lenient gun laws, just that sometimes it's nice to be able to sit in the bar area of a restaurant and carry at the same time. I often sit in the bar area because the better servers are normally stationed there, but I don't order alcohol. I think the way Texas treats the "bar within a restaurant" situation makes more sense because you don't have to drink to sit at the bar or in the bar area of the restaurant, but if you go to a place that would be considered 51%, it's more likely that you are there expressly for the purpose of drinking.

There are many other states in which I would be happy to live because of their more lenient gun laws, but I think Texas is fairly balanced especially when compared to other states. I would like to see gun laws relax a bit, but know that it's a long process and I may not see anything change for the better in the coming years.

Dave01 wrote:Not sure how I got it in my head he was your boss. Reading too many threads I guess. My apologies. I would have thought bartenders had the authority to ask people to leave considering they have to potentially deal with the rowdiest of customers. If they don't have this power, then I agree they should.

I think bartenders at actual bars they may have this power, since most bars are privately owned. Chili's, however, is a corporate owned chain and primarily a restaurant. They're trying to cover their rears by telling us not to take anything into our own hands...but that just means there's more opportunity for things to escalate while we're trying to track down the manager, who often cannot be found quickly. Stupid policies...but then, most people don't go to Chili's to drink. Our drinks are expensive compared to, say, Applebee's, and our bar area is tiny anyway.

Dave01 wrote: The issue I took with your original post is that it appears the guy was told that drinking while carrying was illegal. I understand that it is up to the discretion of the of officer to determine impaired ability, and that can happen below 0.08 BAC. There is however a difference between drinking and being intoxicated. If it were illegal to drink while carrying, then I could be arrested for taking 1 sip of a beer and walking away. However, that sip would not impair my abilities by anyone's definition. That's why I said it's a thin line....the act itself is not illegal, but the logical consequence of that act may very well be.

If I misunderstood what your boss was referring to as being illegal, then I retract my statement.

Since he was the one serving him, my bartender knew how many drinks this guy had had, so I think he assumed (based on how many drinks he had had) that the guy was becoming impaired. Obviously his actions weren't based on discretion, so that's another indicator that he might have had too much. Otherwise, I don't think the bartender would have said anything. And though sometimes I wish he was, the bartender isn't my boss, so he didn't have the authority to ask the guy to leave. It's unfortunate that the employees can't simply request that a customer leave in a situation like this, because it would have been appropriate.

No harm, just wanted to clarify for the sake of others reading the thread. These things can sometimes turn into a game of "telephone" and if someone hasn't read every reply, things get twisted around. :-)

Purplehood wrote:As noted previously, it is not a crime to out yourself either. It might be criminally stupid, but it is not a crime.
From what I read of the "incident", calling 911 would be a waste of a dispatchers time.

I agree on both counts here.

And, further responding to Dave01, I didn't say that I wanted to call the police. I simply said that I anticipated someone on the board saying that's what should have been done. There wouldn't have been a reason to call the police unless he was being threatening or had actually produced a gun.

To clarify, the guy who shouted out stood up as he did so, while patting his hip. I couldn't discern whether that guy or his friend were carrying.

Dave01 - It's not a crime to drink while carrying, but as I stated in my original post, I suspected he had had more than one beer. He was not behaving soberly and was flushed. Since I serve alcohol for my job, I have a good idea of when someone's had too much. If he was indeed carrying, I think an LEO would have found him just under or at the legal limit. But you don't even have to be at that limit for it to be illegal - you only need to demonstrate impaired function.

Excaliber wrote:The bar area is off limits for CHL in some states - e.g., Florida.

That's one good reason to live in Texas...!

My CHL instructor said that the law defines "intoxicated" as having any substance in your body that can alter your perception and/or behavior. That would cover alcohol, medication that makes you drowsy, etc. You may be able to convince a jury that you aren't affected by one beer...but then again, you might not. I would personally always err on the side of safety and not drink at all while carrying. My bartender and I probably think the same way on that issue, hence his response to the guy at the bar. I think the guy was probably legally intoxicated (BAL > 0.8) judging by his actions.

EDIT: Wow, USA1....beat me to it! :)

Beiruty wrote:Most likely the newbe CHLer thought having a beer or 2 while carrying is no crime. He may assumed wrongly on intoxicated while carrying is a crime. It was good the BT warned him and he should had asked him to leave.

Employees can't ask a customer to leave - a manager has to do it. It's stupid, but it's liability or some bull like that. It was a guy who looked to be in his late 40s/early 50s, so I'd like to think that he'd know better...but I know that that's just wishful thinking.

As many of you probably know, I work at Chili's. Tonight I was walking through our bar area to pick up a margarita for my table when a guy at the bar stood up and shouted across the bar at a guy who I assume is a friend.

He shouted, "Hey ____! You got your gun? I got mine!" while patting his side.
My eyes bugged out because...why is the heck would you do something like that? A crowded restaurant is no place to shout something like that (mostly because there's too many sheeple) and the way I see it, concealed means concealed.

The friend shushed him and motioned for him to sit back down. Then I looked at the guy who shouted, and saw that he had been drinking a beer - and it probably wasn't his first. (For those interested, the friend wasn't drinking.)

The bartender and I talk guns often, and I suspect he has a CHL. He snapped at the guy, "Bud, I wouldn't go around advertising that. And you'd better hope you don't have one, 'cause that's illegal."

"No it ain't, I --"

"It is if you've been drinking. You'd better settle down."

The guy hushed up and left shortly afterwards.

If this guy did, in fact, have his CHL, it saddens me to see someone who either doesn't know or doesn't care about the laws concerning it. What's that saying? With great power comes great responsibility. If you choose to carry a gun, it's your responsibility to do it safely and legally.

I know some may suggest that a proper course of action would have been to distract and detain the guy while waiting for the police. I acknowledge that this could have been a viable alternative, but considering the situation, it would have likely ended with the guy leaving before the police could arrive anyway. I can only hope he's wiser and perhaps scared into following the law. But, sadly, probably not.