intoxicated passenger glovebox carry

[Glockster]

I've run through this scenario several times and don't know where to find the answer at all so please excuse the ignorance.

I carry every day, everywhere. Suppose my wife and I are at a friend's house and decide I want to have several drinks. My wife doesn't drink so when we leave she would naturally get the keys and drive the twenty minutes or so back home. I have my gun in the glove box in front of me. Let's say she gets pulled over for speeding or a brake light out or whatever. What does the law say about me having my gun in the glove box as a passenger while I'm inebriated?

I guess that I'll go ahead and ask what's running through my mind....how did the gun get from in your possession while in the friend's house to the glove box of your car? If you carried it, I think you carried while intoxicated. If your wife claims it, then she carried from the friend's house to the car either open or concealed, and both I think would have been legal for her to do.

Easy. He left it in the glovebox before he went in to start drinking, just wanted it with him in car to/from friends house which is legal IAW MPA.

Sure. Probably one of those situations where the more you say to the LEO, the greater the chances of this not turning out well.

[Taypo]

Put it in the trunk, solves the problem

[Javier730]

Put it in the trunk, solves the problem

What if the tipsy chler is in a pick up?

[truckster]

Very interesting answers ladies and gents. The most obvious thing that came from this is that there is no cut and dry answer therefore the smart thing to do is put it in a lockbox or leave it at home.

[truckster]

Hey, I also don't want to give off the impression that I'm some sort of babbling drunk either. Haha, I'm not talking about 10 or 12 beers. Hell, I rarely have more than a couple beers during an entire week. I'm just talking over the legal limit.

[brhalltx]

The other option is to have the wife take "control" of the pistol in a place you can't get to easily; door pocket/compartment, if it isn't visible when the door is opened, possibly the center console, possibly a left side glove box (if you have one and it will fit), possibly between the driver's seat and the center console...

[treadlightly]

My theory on how to mix even large quantities of alcohol with guns is easy. Leave the gun at home, or don't drink the alcohol. If I were to plan to drink enough to have any impairment I would first separate myself from guns.

Or, more to my taste, I would stay alert and armed.

Why push the envelope?

[Taypo]

My theory on how to mix even large quantities of alcohol with guns is easy. Leave the gun at home, or don't drink the alcohol. If I were to plan to drink enough to have any impairment I would first separate myself from guns.

Or, more to my taste, I would stay alert and armed.

Why push the envelope?

Luckily I have a wife with a CHL. Typically if we're going somewhere where drinks are present, we have the same discussion as we do about driving - who's gonna be the responsible adult this time? The other doesn't carry.

[howdy]

I think we all agree this could get VERY expensive real fast!!

[LSUTiger]

I think in efforts to show who is more responsible all of the "put it in the trunk or leave it at home" crowd has gone Fast and Unexpectedly into Looney Land with the Refusal to Employ Tactical Advanced Response and Defense. (aka FULL RETARD). Too much overthinking.

I'm carrying, I decide to have a few drinks so I put the gun in the car, later the wife drives me home. She can use the gun to defend her self or me. There are no limits to how many guns you can have in the car CHL or not. She can have her gun, my gun and whatever else is in the car as long as the guns are legal and she can legally possess them. As long a there is one responsible adult who hasn't been drinking can legally possess the legal guns I think you don't have any issue with a traffic stop. IANAL.

Can I possess a car and still drink? What about car keys in my pocket? Does that make me a drunk driver?

As stated before, does that mean I can't have a few drinks in my own house because guns are in it?

Or even better, I can't ever have a drinks anywhere because I have "constructive possession" of firearms?

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictiona ... Possession

Or what about you can't have firearms when children are around because they might get to it. And making firearms accessible to children is a crime? How do you protect those children without the firearm?

I get that you don't want to get into a messy situation without thinking first about what you were doing but how far does the insanity go?

IMHO, It's only when you use the car or firearm or have direct possession of firearm on your person in an impaired state that you could find yourself in trouble. IANAL.

[ralewis]

I think we all agree this could get VERY expensive real fast!!

I'm not sure I agree....

I drive with my kids in a car all the time, and occasionally I have a gun in the center console. They aren't allowed to possess a pistol, but that doesn't make it a problem for me to have a gun in a console between me and a minor does it?

What if I get absolutely hammered at home and have a pistol nearby? Don't think that's illegal, and the law seems to treat a vehicle as an extension of one's home.

What if you pick up your crazy cousin who did time for robbing a convenience store in the 80's (convicted felon)? Well, this one seems like it might be a problem actually...

Seems to me that as long as the operator who has control of the vehicle can legally possess a firearm (and also subject to the constraints of the MPA), it would be fine.

[The Wall]

Put the gun in the wife's purse or where only she can access it. At least that way you still have it for protection if needed. Locking it up in the trunk defeats the purpose of carrying it in the first place. Get the wife a CHL and you won't have to worry about it. Glad to hear you're smart enough to let the wife drive when you've been drinking.

[WildBill]

What if I get absolutely hammered at home and have a pistol nearby? Don't think that's illegal, and the law seems to treat a vehicle as an extension of one's home.

I don't think it's the same. When was the last time a cop knocked on your door because your porch light was burned out?

[OldGrumpy]

There is a bigger question here. Why would anyone allow close access to a firearm to someone intoxicated? There is a reason for having the prohibition and it is called safety. The wife should bop him over the head if necessary and then properly secure the firearm out of his reach,

[TVGuy]

Some of these responses are over-the-top silly.

Similar scenario...

I have CHL (or even under MPA) and am completely sober. I get a call from my wife that she's had a couple of drinks and asks if I could pick her up from a friend's house instead of having to drive.

I put my gun in the console and go get her. Once I pick her up, she isn't suddenly in possession of a handgun. I've also done nothing irresponsible by having my wife in the car.

Let's quit going overboard on things.