Not helping
TN Rep. Curry Todd, who the press points out was the lead sponsor of the bill removing the restriction on carrying guns where alcohol was served, got pulled over for DUI. And he also had gun in the car. Now, do you think the press is outraged that he was hammered as dammit and behind the wheel of a several thousand pound vehicle and speeding down the road or about the firearm in his car? The former is definitely more dangerous and the latter was likely not an issue.
In Tennessee, you cannot consume alcohol while carrying a firearm. It’s not at all like our DUI laws in which you can drink to a certain BAC level and drive as long as you’re not impaired. If I’m carrying a firearm and have a glass of wine with dinner at friend’s house, once I get in the car, I’ve broken the law. That didn’t change since the supposed guns in bars bill. And if the Rep. got tanked in a local bar while carrying his weapon, he broke the law again.
October 13th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Your characterization of the law is not quite correct. If you have a drink of alcohol, eventually you can handle a gun again legally. The question then becomes how much and how long.
Fruits naturally have tiny amounts of ethanol. Chemists can detect and quantify the amounts in an apple or grape. Likewise those chemists can detect and quantify the low levels of ethanol in somebody’s blood just from a balanced diet. Laws that mandate absolutely zero blood ethanol aren’t constitutional.
Not to mention that the word “alcohol” has a specific chemical meaning; ethanol is only one of many alcohols. Your body makes thousands of different types of alcohol molecules daily, as it breaks down all the various components of your diet. Sugar happens to be an alcohol. Laws that ban alcohol are, technically, invalid on their face.
October 14th, 2011 at 7:09 am
Tennessee law states it is a crime to be under the influence of alcohol while in possession of a firearm, period. The arresting officer and the judge get to define “under the influence”. If you’ve had a glass of wine as Uncle states you can be arrested and charged with a crime.
The bill passed to allow carry in places that serve alcohol states that it is a crime to drink any alcohol period. One drop and you’ve broken the law. And it states beer, liquor, wine and any alcoholic beverage specifically in the law.
October 14th, 2011 at 8:23 am
“And if the Rep. got tanked in a local bar while carrying his weapon, he broke the law again.”
But those who are so concerned that he had his gun in the car aren’t concerned about the law that makes it easy, even likely, that him and others leave bars DUI!
“The bill passed to allow carry in places that serve alcohol states that it is a crime to drink any alcohol period. One drop and you’ve broken the law.”
And alcohol was quite accessible to gun permit holders BEFORE the law that allowed them to exercise their right going to, in and coming from restaurants where alcohol is served. If gun permit holdes as a group were going to be problem, it would have been apparent well before Curry Todd BROKE THE LAW and got caught. The law is working!
October 14th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
I know Curry pretty well, and he certainly screwed up badly.
And it doesn’t help the cause of advancing our 2A rights legislatively.