Another chl question...

[txags06]

Waiting on my chl in the mail. Man that screen will annoy you staring at the same thing every day. Anyways hope this isn't a dumb ? But better safe than sorry....

Situation:
I am out running errands and end up going to dinner (I like having a cold beer with dinner).. Problem is I'm carrying and can't go home.

Is it ok to say, lock up my pistol in a case under my back seat BEFORE I even get to dinner. What do you do in this situation? I know the best answer is to not drink but I'm just curios if this suffices.

[holdem]

If you had the CHL don't have a beer when carrying. What you do with your sidearm is your business. If you plan to go home after drinking with a sidearm lock it in a trunk with the magazine out, unloaded chamber and not within easy access.

[Hunter Dan]

This is where the laws really suck. If you are carrying in your car and do not have a CHL than it is an extension of the castle law and you can have a blood alcohol level of .08, you don't even have to tell the cop you have a gun in the car. If you are a CHL holder than any gun in the car you are considered carrying and you are not allowed to have any alcohol level at all. That being said I have been told that no officer would ever enforce such a crazy technicality. I was pulled over after drinking and given the field sobriety test (and passed) and I gave the officer my CHL and told him that I had 3 guns in the truck.

[30-30]

Good info here.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=341181

From what I can tell, this is a grey area with many interpretations. Clearly, it's best not to drink if you're going to drive home with a gun in the truck. But if you had a drink or two at dinner, I would at least put the gun in the toolbox, remove the magazine, lock it in the glove box or do something to render the gun unavailable. It may or may not do you any good if pulled over.

With a CHL, the .08 limit goes out the window. It's up to an officer to decide if you're "intoxicated."

[txags06]

Ok thanks for the clarification, I know I will probably never have to worry but just wanted to be sure

[tvc184]

I see bits and pieces of the correct answer.

There is a per se limit to carry at 0.08 alcohol concentration OR at any level IF you have lost the normal use of mental or physical faculties. There is nothing in the Penal Code that says a person carrying under a CHL has to have a 0.00 alcohol concentration.

Can an officer arrest you at his discretion for any level? Not legally. In fact nothing will stop an officer from arresting you with a 0.00 since at the point of arrest it is his word against yours. Of course the burden in court is on the officer/state to prove that you lost the normal use of your functions but arrests aren't convictions.

So you can have a 0.08 and be okay if you don't have a CHL and are carrying in a vehicle? Not hardly, especially if you are driving. If you are 0.08 then you are DWI and therefore also Unlawful Carrying (UCW). What about not driving and merely a passenger in your own car? Again officer discretion. The officer can arrest you for Public Intoxication under the same definition of "intoxication" under DWI meaning loss of normal fuction. That also leaves the officer open to arrest you for UCW. Again, the burden of proof is on the officer/state to prove that you were a danger to yourself in court but at the moment of arrest, it is officer discretion.

That means that if he can arrest you for carrying while intoxicated under CHL, he can also make the same arrest without a CHL. The idea that a person with a CHL is held to some kind of higher standard is simply not true.

If you decide to put a handgun in the trunk to get it away from "on or about your person", there is no need to unload it, lock it up or anything else other than merely getting it out of your immediate reach.