Random

Well, first off, let's consider the first statement by the OP:

I think the manager certainly would have the right to choose to server or not to serve in their establishment. About the only one who could contradict that would be the establishment's owner. So justherenow, you would have been perfectly in your rights.

That said, leaving out the alcohol issue, I think the handling of the various situations (taking the OP totally at face value) WAS good, and probably had an overall positive impact on these people's perception of people who OC.

As for the consumption of alcohol (again, accepting the OP at face value), it appears that he consumed 2-3 drinks total in the course of an evening. If this was anything like MY evening's out with my wife, that would have been 2-3 drinks over the course of 4-5 hours.

With that amount of alcohol consumption over that period of time, should he have been driving?

As always, it comes right back to personal responsibility.

Random

Good point.

PaulG

I think you did fine.

The anti's say we shouldn't carry guns because we will shoot someone.

Sounds like some here are saying that when carrying we should not have a drink or two because that's irresponsible.

If you are responsible enough to carry a gun, you are responsible enough to limit your drinking to what you can tolerate without reaching the "under the influence" level.

Having said that, I make it a PERSONAL rule not to drink while carrying away from the house.

I have violated this rule once when I thought I was in for the day so I had a couple of beers that evening. Then a situation came up where I had to go out. Kept the gun with me then. I was not even close to being under the influence.

Like I said, the OP did good.

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stlouiseman

Mixing alcohol with anything is going to create more problems. But I want to know who the person is that drinks and then proceeds to get a gun out and waves it all around? I carry a knife for utility and personal protection. I happen to have drank heavily on Sunday. At no point did I feel the need to start waving my knife around at anybody that looked at me funny (btw wife drove home). Sure a gun maybe considered more lethal than a knife, but all the same they both can kill. I don't CC yet, and I am sure it is illegal in my state. But if it wasn't I wouldn't see a problem.

shooterX

I think you handled the education of others quite well.

cz2075bd

+1 on the interactions, neutral on the combining OC w/ drinks. In and of itself, I don't think 1-2 drinks while carrying is any worse than 1-2 drinks when out to dinner and then driving home. But personally I think the appearance of impropriety can cause scandal to others, even if you are within the law and within your own personal limits. Then there is the liability issue others have mentioned, if SHTF and you draw or draw & fire, your legal battle will be that much more uphill if you've had *anything* to drink.

Bold move to OC in a place like Reston Town center. I'm surprised you didn't have any stories of interactions with concerned customers.

oldogy

IMO, the OP probably won a few small battles and educated a few folks. What is not being addressed is what the OP did to aid the anti-gun folks. How many sheep saw and carried their story of a 'man with a gun drinking' back to their flocks?
Again, just my opinion and we know what that is worth.

oldogy

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Government is out of control
"If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying -- " Sen Orrin G. Hatch

packinnova

That's the kind of statement that depends on a number of factors.
1) not everyone is the same. If you can't handle 2-3 drinks in a 5 hour time span...maybe you should be rethinking drinking.
2) How much food was consumed prior and during. That also affects how much alcohol is going to actually affect you.
3) Size and activity level play another big part. If you're 5'-nothin and 120lbs soaking wet, clearly you're going to be affected much quicker by a much smaller amount of alcohol. On the contrary, if you're 6'1, 210lbs, and exercise daily then you're going to be affected a good bit differently.

This may help you understand this concept:
Friends Drive Sober - Impaired Driving Prevention
Obviously this is slightly generic, but it makes for a good approximation.

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nkanofolives

Thanks. Yeah, 2.25 drinks over the course of 7+ hours. I think I was alright. We did not get home until after 1:30am, we went to dinner at like 5:30pm.

And not to sound tooooo much like a raging alcoholic, but I can put them down. I would consider my alcohol tolerance to be considerably higher than most folks.

varob

I'm certainly not going to judge the OP, but all it takes is one anti gun person to shoot some cell phone footage of an OCer drinking a beer with his firearm on his hip to provoke some nee jerk politician in Richmond to introduce legislation banning all gun in places where alcohol is served.

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