CHL and alcohol....

[boomerang]

What I was asking was if they are out while carrying, and then decide to drink would keeping their weapon away from them be sufficient? I realize that it would be best to not carry while drinking. The issue is whether an officer would consider them carrying if it the handgun was not on them. I would assume it would be alright if it were separate from them. I will look through other posts, but so far I haven't seen this addressed but there are a million threads to look through.

Sec. 46.035(d) says "A license holder commits an offense if, while intoxicated, the license holder carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed."

Sec. 46.035(a) and Sec. 46.035(b) say carries "on or about the license holder's person" and that may be different than carries.

The point remains that if they're intoxicated it's not legal to drive either.

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

[srothstein]

OK, we have here a few different considerations. First, you have the best (IMO) advice of changing your lifestyle and not drinking and carrying or driving. That is the safest way to go, whether it is the law or not.

Then you have the case of when you can carry while drinking. The law defines intoxication for carrying the exact same way it does for driving. You are intoxicated when you lose the normal control of your mental or physical faculties or when you are at .08 BAC. This is taken from the Code Construction Act saying how to define terms not specifically defined in the section. Clearly, if you are too intoxicated to carry, you are too intoxicated to drive.

Given that we know how we should act, and we know the law, we also know that there are some officers who are not as versed as us in the law. Some will believe (as some here have posted) that any alcohol while carrying is illegal. Good tactics would tell us to avoid this situation.

And that seems to bring us to what is the question posed. If they do not want to carry while they are drinking, where in the vehicle can they leave the gun to avoid a potential misunderstanding? To answer this, I am going to assume they had some drinks but are not intoxicated, just being extra safe against an officer who believes no alcohol while carrying. The answer to this is that the law specifies that it is illegal to carry UNDER THE AUTHORITY of the CHL while intoxicated. The motorist protection act would still allow the gun to be in the car, as long as it was concealed. Inside a locked glove box would be concealed and generally not considered on or about the person. The advantage to locked in the glove box is that you are no longer relying on just the MPA, because it is not on or about your person. The MPA requires that you not be committing any other crime, such as public intoxication.

And given all of that, I come back to not having the gun or driving with any alcohol consumed because we all know there are some cops that will make the arrests anyway. The friends should win in court, but that still costs money and causes other problems.

[texasnative]

All very good comments on this post as well as the other posts...this has been discussed ad nauseam. However, I am not sure this can be discussed enough.

I too, enjoy a drink or two from time to time and am certainly not making any judgements one way or the other and have made mistakes in my younger years as I am sure many, many here have done....BUT, when you have a CHL, you are held to a higher standard.

My personal opinion puts this into 2 general categories...

1. What you CAN do.
2. What you SHOULD do.

CAN--the laws are much like the drinking and driving laws. You can drink...you can not be intoxicated under the legal definition, as defined below a certain BAC level. Is it smart to push the edge? No, I do not believe that is is.

SHOULD--IMHO, if you know that you are going to drink..do not carry, as has been suggested in this as well as many other strings. You may not be intoxicated over the legal limit, but why risk it? You'll spend more $$$, time away from work, and general hassle just to have that extra drink or 2.

My personal routine? and I am not pushing this on anyone else, just my personal set of rules. If I am going to 1) ride my motorcycle and/or 2) carry concealed, then I plan accordingly and do not drink. It is a promise I have made to myself and my family. It works for me, it may or may not work for you, but so far, I have been happy with my decision.

Also, I am acutely aware of the amount I drink and the time passed even if I am not carrying.

Your mileage may very. Just one man's opinion.

[bdickens]

Texas law has only one definition for "intoxicated."

Sec. 49.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Alcohol concentration" means the number of grams of alcohol per:

(A) 210 liters of breath;

(B) 100 milliliters of blood; or

(C) 67 milliliters of urine.

(2) "Intoxicated" means:

(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or

(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/D ... /PE.49.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mrvmax]

Thanks, question answered. Next time I will ask them to findout for themselves!

[mymojo]

Texas law has only one definition for "intoxicated."

(2) "Intoxicated" means:

(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or

(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

Actually there are two definitions of intoxication there.