Gun Club Policies on shooting and drinking - Page 2

ITEOTWAWKI · September 28, 2006, 08:58 PM

I had an uncle put a pistol round strait through his hand...wasn't drinking though.

azurefly · September 28, 2006, 08:58 PM

Was he just a badxxx?

-azurefly

ITEOTWAWKI · September 28, 2006, 09:04 PM

No but he's got enough guns to qualify. Dozens upon dozens of rifles. He had such a good relationship with all the local pawn & gunshops that he was offered a 3 or 4 hundred dollar pistol to quit smoking...he didn't but they were serious when they offered. I guess they thought it a worthwhile business investment to prolonge his life.

tbinder · September 29, 2006, 11:34 AM

Guns and alcohol don't mix. Only during our annual picnic do we allow BYO wine, beer or malt beverage - no spirits. That day no fire arms are allowed.

Monkeyleg · September 29, 2006, 04:55 PM

Another point about the club I belong to. It doesn't have NRA range insurance like most clubs because alcohol is sold on the premises, something NRA insurance doesn't allow.

The practice of having beer available goes back to the days before we had our own clubhouse, and monthly meetings were held at the bar just a hundred yards or so from where the clubhouse is now.

I guess some of the longtime members just liked the idea.

The only time I'll have a beer is when I attend a monthly meeting.

And the members pretty much police each other.

paramedic70002 · September 30, 2006, 10:04 AM

I have trouble with alcohol being served AFTER conclusion of shooting. Any mix of alcohol and guns is bad, and anything that might happen (DUI, fight) in connection to guns would be prime time news. I appreciate a little imbibation as much as the next guy, but if you can't hold off once in a while, seek help!

Wyo Cowboy · September 30, 2006, 06:37 PM

We allow drinking... after all firearms are unloaded, locked away and no one is going to be driving home DWI. Or even close.

DeathRodent · October 2, 2006, 05:17 PM

When I was 16 I worked at a Trap club named "Fox's Trap and Tap" it had a bar served beer for sure maybe even mixed drinks. This was in Wisconsin where drinking beer is taken as a God given right not a privlige to be allowed by some tea totalling old ladies.

There is such a thing as a limit - if you can't drink one beer and shoot or drive or talk then don't but that doesn't mean some other people can't.

I for one am able to control my alcohol intake. I don't drink until I am dangerous or drunk. That is why most states have a limit set such as .08 which would allow most people to have one or two beers. For some people .08 would be fine to drive and for others maybe not - know your limits.

OF course, if you are at a range that allows drinking and someone appears too intoxicated stop him just like you'd stop him from driving.

Its starting to sound like this is alcohol haters anonymous.

UniversalFrost · October 2, 2006, 05:27 PM

no I like to drink (a good scotch or vodka) and a very good beer (stationed in germany for 4 years got me spoiled, all the american stuff tastes like piss). But i won't drink and shoot or drive. That is like playing with matches and dynamite while having a drink, either way something bad is bound to happen.

bobhwry · October 2, 2006, 06:06 PM

DeathRodent,
Guns and alcohol is a lethal mix!! What about that don,t you understand?? Even with one drink your judgement and reflexes are impaired!! Your claim that you can control your alcohol intake before you become drunk or dangerous is inane! What about all the levels of impairment between sobriety and drunkenness??
Drinking may be a rite of passage in Wisconsin which might explain the reason so many deer hunters get shot each hunting season!!
Your attempt at justifying drinking and firearms is immature and irresponsible!!

guntotin_fool · October 2, 2006, 08:27 PM

This is humorous, I think maybe 50% of the trap and skeet ranges are selling beer. At least all the ones I have been to.

I know an olympic class Pistol shooter who always had a shot before shooting. He claimed a 10% increase in scores with one drink, settled the jitters of caffiene and stress, said that the eastern bloc shooters used a form of barbituates to steady shooters in competition before it was banned.

Where I shoot, you may not have beer outside the clubhouse or the patio. That is actually a state law as they are not licensed for off sale. It is not uncommon at all for a business man who shows up at 530 to have a dog and beer before getting his number called. We do not have problems with people getting out of hand. I have never even heard of it. We did have one member get a DUI after staying late one night, he had finished shooting at 6 pm and left at 1 am, so he was not mixing the two. The Club has gotten more cautious about over serving later at night.

The other range that I sometimes shoot at, sells beer and chips, they have a un-spoken rule that no beer till you put the gun in the case, but it is not in stone nor do they really push it for the late starters, as many shooters get 10:30 tickets. But they sorta press it by example early in the evening.
Again I have never heard of any issues.

Now this is grown men who are in trap and skeet leagues, people are expected that if they are adult enough to carry a weapon, they are adult enough to know how much beer they can drink.

RickB · October 3, 2006, 07:02 PM

No drinking while a range is in use. That is, I've had a beer on the pistol range after a scheduled event was completed, while there was shooting on the skeet range, but never alcohol on an active range.

MisterPX · October 4, 2006, 12:27 AM

My club's policy is no drinking before or during shooting. After you're done shooting and packing up your stuff, you can relax in the clubhouse and drink.

10s&Xs · October 4, 2006, 01:13 PM

Personally, I've never mixed drinking and shooting. Shoot first, drink later.

All the pistol/rifle ranges I've been to have been strictly no alcohol on the premeis.

I belong to two shotgun clubs. One has a sign that says no alcohol on the premises, no shooting if you've had anything to drink beforehand, etc.

The other has a bar that serves beer and snacks, and it's open whenever the club is. I've seen beer cans in the trash along the sporting clays course, and I've seen people set down a beer and pick up a shotgun when their squad is called. Far as I can tell, they've never had a problem with it. No one is staggering around waving guns. No one is going out to get their gun after an alcohol-fueled argument. It sounds like what guntotin_fool described - it's expected that the people there are responsible.

I like the option of having a beer after shooting, but I wouldn't stop shooting there if they didn't serve.

bobhwry · October 4, 2006, 05:29 PM

Assuming that people will act responsibly is a risk I don't care to take!!! It's like assuming all people who drink and drive will act responsibly!! The presence of alcohol and firearms is an accident waiting to happen!!

**Bud Helms** · October 4, 2006, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Assuming that people will act responsibly is a risk I don't care to take!!!

[Really? So you don't believe, for example, in the right to keep and bear arms?]

Quote:

It's like assuming all people who drink and drive will act responsibly!!

[No. It's not. Drinking and driving is irresponsible behavior, if you are impaired. Why would you assume a driver would act responsible immediately after engaging in irresponsible behavior? Oh, that's right. You don't like taking the risk that people will act responsibly. Is that before or after they prove themselves irresponsible?]

Quote:

The presence of alcohol and firearms is an accident waiting to happen!!

[The presence of alcohol and firearms? What, just having them together ... in the same room?]

The problem is emphasis at the cost of precision. I'm sure that what you meant was, "Drinking and shooting at the same time is as irresponsible as drinking and driving at the same time." I couldn't agree more. Why didn't you say that?

Here's the deal: "Assuming that people will act responsibly is a risk I don't care to take!!! It's like assuming all people who drink and drive will act responsibly!! The presence of alcohol and firearms is an accident waiting to happen!!", is just plain Liberwockey. It sure has a ring to it, though, doesn't it? And in defense of bobhwry, he's not the only one repeating slogans here.

Keep in mind, I responded to what was said, which was probably not what was meant.

Trip20 · October 4, 2006, 07:13 PM

Bud, help me out here, please. What is Liberwockey?

It's not the same as jabberwocky, or is it?

**Bud Helms** · October 4, 2006, 07:48 PM

I misspelled it ... Liberwocky

I don't think bobhwry intentionally comitted this sin (

). It is a trap we all fall for nearly everyday. The language is changing.

To support the topic: My gun club has a simple rule. Don't drink during a shooting session. Don't drink prior to a shooting session to the extent that you are impaired. Since we know that an alcohol-impaired person is the last person that should decide whether he/she is impaired, we don't drink at all on the day we shoot, until after the range session is over, by general agreement. We have no rule against having a cold beer on range property, but it is frowned on and we do have a very strict rule about leaving trash of any kind. So God help you if a stray beer can gets blamed on you.

bobhwry · October 4, 2006, 08:23 PM

Bud,
I fully support everyones right to bear arms. Why does that in itself involve any level of risk?? But to blindly accept that all people can handle alcohol and firearms responsibly until proven otherwise is short sighted!! By the time you find out it might be a little late, don't you think??
Yes,alcohol in any situation in which impairment could cause an unintended or tragic result is unacceptable!!! IMO.
I'm appalled that you would suggest otherwise!! By the way, I'm not against a little libation, I choose not to mix it with firearms!

DeathRodent · October 19, 2006, 02:40 PM

Do you really believe that a 200 lb man cannot drink a 12 oz beer and be responsible around guns? Zero tolerance in a lot of cases is STUPID.

I can drink a beer responsibly not slamming them to get drunk like at a college frat party and I am still very able to handle a firearm - I follow the 4 rules and do not "play" with guns.

Your reasoning is the exact same line that gungrabbers use - "someone might not be able to handle it so is it worth the cost of an accident? No so lets outlaw it"

AT this rate the Gov't will mandate that citizens have to wear those redman fighting suits when they leave their house - after all it wil prevent accidents!

I read where Tag is not allowed in grade school now because a child may fall down when running and get hurt! REDICULOUS Oh running on the playground is not allowed so why not "slow" tag?

BTW - I don't BLINDLY ACCEPT ANYTHING - ESCPECIALLY WHAT YOU SAY.

bobhwry · October 19, 2006, 04:37 PM

Deathrat,
Your inane and immature post does not merit a response!! I stand by what I've already said!!

**Bud Helms** · October 19, 2006, 04:57 PM

DeathRodent and bobhwry ... take a break.

In reponse to bobhwry:

Quote:

I fully support everyones right to bear arms. Why does that in itself involve any level of risk??

Did I say that? I believe it, but I don't think I said it. Do you actually believe that bearing arms is without risk? quote: "Why does that in itself involve any level of risk??" That sounds like it's time for a serious evaluation of our definition of risk.

Quote:

But to blindly accept that all people can handle alcohol and firearms responsibly until proven otherwise is short sighted!!

How are you getting these meanings from my post?

Quote:

I'm appalled that you would suggest otherwise!!

Actually, I happen to know that it is quite different from taking poison. However, I do not drink and shoot. Quote a suggestion to that effect from my post.

Quote:

By the way, I'm not against a little libation, I choose not to mix it with firearms!

As mentioned, I choose the same.

[Just a short point here. This is how arguments get started. One reads what one wants to see, regardless of what was written. Sorry, bubba, I'm gonna have to run the BS flag up on this one. I posted what the rules were on drinking and shooting in my gun club. There is not the first syllable of my personal belief in that post, in spite of what you apparently read and comprehended.]

September 28, 2006, 08:58 PM	#27
azurefly Junior member Join Date: November 22, 2005 Posts: 1,187	Was he just a badxxx? -azurefly Last edited by Bud Helms; September 28, 2006 at 09:23 PM. Reason: Some unnecessary juvenile language.

September 29, 2006, 04:55 PM	#30
Monkeyleg Senior Member Join Date: January 25, 2000 Posts: 4,625	Another point about the club I belong to. It doesn't have NRA range insurance like most clubs because alcohol is sold on the premises, something NRA insurance doesn't allow. The practice of having beer available goes back to the days before we had our own clubhouse, and monthly meetings were held at the bar just a hundred yards or so from where the clubhouse is now. I guess some of the longtime members just liked the idea. The only time I'll have a beer is when I attend a monthly meeting. And the members pretty much police each other. __________________ ACOG Scopes, EOTech Sights, Crimson Trace, LensAndLasers

October 2, 2006, 05:27 PM	#34
UniversalFrost Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 2,300	no I like to drink (a good scotch or vodka) and a very good beer (stationed in germany for 4 years got me spoiled, all the american stuff tastes like piss). But i won't drink and shoot or drive. That is like playing with matches and dynamite while having a drink, either way something bad is bound to happen. __________________ Lifetime member VFW and NRA "Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (when all else fails play dead) -Red Green

October 19, 2006, 02:40 PM	#45
DeathRodent Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2006 Posts: 209	bobhwry? Do you really believe that a 200 lb man cannot drink a 12 oz beer and be responsible around guns? Zero tolerance in a lot of cases is STUPID. I can drink a beer responsibly not slamming them to get drunk like at a college frat party and I am still very able to handle a firearm - I follow the 4 rules and do not "play" with guns. Your reasoning is the exact same line that gungrabbers use - "someone might not be able to handle it so is it worth the cost of an accident? No so lets outlaw it" AT this rate the Gov't will mandate that citizens have to wear those redman fighting suits when they leave their house - after all it wil prevent accidents! I read where Tag is not allowed in grade school now because a child may fall down when running and get hurt! REDICULOUS Oh running on the playground is not allowed so why not "slow" tag? BTW - I don't BLINDLY ACCEPT ANYTHING - ESCPECIALLY WHAT YOU SAY.

September 28, 2006, 08:58 PM	#26
ITEOTWAWKI Junior member Join Date: September 22, 2006 Posts: 454	I had an uncle put a pistol round strait through his hand...wasn't drinking though.

September 28, 2006, 09:04 PM	#28
ITEOTWAWKI Junior member Join Date: September 22, 2006 Posts: 454	No but he's got enough guns to qualify. Dozens upon dozens of rifles. He had such a good relationship with all the local pawn & gunshops that he was offered a 3 or 4 hundred dollar pistol to quit smoking...he didn't but they were serious when they offered. I guess they thought it a worthwhile business investment to prolonge his life.

September 29, 2006, 11:34 AM	#29
tbinder Member Join Date: September 22, 2006 Posts: 52	Guns and alcohol don't mix. Only during our annual picnic do we allow BYO wine, beer or malt beverage - no spirits. That day no fire arms are allowed.

September 30, 2006, 10:04 AM	#31
paramedic70002 Member Join Date: July 11, 2006 Location: Franklin, VA Posts: 93	I have trouble with alcohol being served AFTER conclusion of shooting. Any mix of alcohol and guns is bad, and anything that might happen (DUI, fight) in connection to guns would be prime time news. I appreciate a little imbibation as much as the next guy, but if you can't hold off once in a while, seek help!

September 30, 2006, 06:37 PM	#32
Wyo Cowboy Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 2005 Location: Northern Wyoming Posts: 343	We allow drinking... after all firearms are unloaded, locked away and no one is going to be driving home DWI. Or even close.

October 2, 2006, 05:17 PM	#33
DeathRodent Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2006 Posts: 209	When I was 16 I worked at a Trap club named "Fox's Trap and Tap" it had a bar served beer for sure maybe even mixed drinks. This was in Wisconsin where drinking beer is taken as a God given right not a privlige to be allowed by some tea totalling old ladies. There is such a thing as a limit - if you can't drink one beer and shoot or drive or talk then don't but that doesn't mean some other people can't. I for one am able to control my alcohol intake. I don't drink until I am dangerous or drunk. That is why most states have a limit set such as .08 which would allow most people to have one or two beers. For some people .08 would be fine to drive and for others maybe not - know your limits. OF course, if you are at a range that allows drinking and someone appears too intoxicated stop him just like you'd stop him from driving. Its starting to sound like this is alcohol haters anonymous.

October 2, 2006, 06:06 PM	#35
bobhwry Junior member Join Date: April 5, 2006 Posts: 530	DeathRodent, Guns and alcohol is a lethal mix!! What about that don,t you understand?? Even with one drink your judgement and reflexes are impaired!! Your claim that you can control your alcohol intake before you become drunk or dangerous is inane! What about all the levels of impairment between sobriety and drunkenness?? Drinking may be a rite of passage in Wisconsin which might explain the reason so many deer hunters get shot each hunting season!! Your attempt at justifying drinking and firearms is immature and irresponsible!!

October 2, 2006, 08:27 PM	#36
guntotin_fool Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2004 Posts: 1,446	This is humorous, I think maybe 50% of the trap and skeet ranges are selling beer. At least all the ones I have been to. I know an olympic class Pistol shooter who always had a shot before shooting. He claimed a 10% increase in scores with one drink, settled the jitters of caffiene and stress, said that the eastern bloc shooters used a form of barbituates to steady shooters in competition before it was banned. Where I shoot, you may not have beer outside the clubhouse or the patio. That is actually a state law as they are not licensed for off sale. It is not uncommon at all for a business man who shows up at 530 to have a dog and beer before getting his number called. We do not have problems with people getting out of hand. I have never even heard of it. We did have one member get a DUI after staying late one night, he had finished shooting at 6 pm and left at 1 am, so he was not mixing the two. The Club has gotten more cautious about over serving later at night. The other range that I sometimes shoot at, sells beer and chips, they have a un-spoken rule that no beer till you put the gun in the case, but it is not in stone nor do they really push it for the late starters, as many shooters get 10:30 tickets. But they sorta press it by example early in the evening. Again I have never heard of any issues. Now this is grown men who are in trap and skeet leagues, people are expected that if they are adult enough to carry a weapon, they are adult enough to know how much beer they can drink.

October 3, 2006, 07:02 PM	#37
RickB Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2000 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 8,519	No drinking while a range is in use. That is, I've had a beer on the pistol range after a scheduled event was completed, while there was shooting on the skeet range, but never alcohol on an active range.

October 4, 2006, 12:27 AM	#38
MisterPX Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2006 Location: Amerika's Doyleland Posts: 809	My club's policy is no drinking before or during shooting. After you're done shooting and packing up your stuff, you can relax in the clubhouse and drink.

October 4, 2006, 01:13 PM	#39
10s&Xs Member Join Date: February 15, 2006 Location: Northern Illinois Posts: 73	Personally, I've never mixed drinking and shooting. Shoot first, drink later. All the pistol/rifle ranges I've been to have been strictly no alcohol on the premeis. I belong to two shotgun clubs. One has a sign that says no alcohol on the premises, no shooting if you've had anything to drink beforehand, etc. The other has a bar that serves beer and snacks, and it's open whenever the club is. I've seen beer cans in the trash along the sporting clays course, and I've seen people set down a beer and pick up a shotgun when their squad is called. Far as I can tell, they've never had a problem with it. No one is staggering around waving guns. No one is going out to get their gun after an alcohol-fueled argument. It sounds like what guntotin_fool described - it's expected that the people there are responsible. I like the option of having a beer after shooting, but I wouldn't stop shooting there if they didn't serve.

October 4, 2006, 05:29 PM	#40
bobhwry Junior member Join Date: April 5, 2006 Posts: 530	Assuming that people will act responsibly is a risk I don't care to take!!! It's like assuming all people who drink and drive will act responsibly!! The presence of alcohol and firearms is an accident waiting to happen!!

October 4, 2006, 07:13 PM	#42
Trip20 Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2005 Posts: 2,181	Bud, help me out here, please. What is Liberwockey? It's not the same as jabberwocky, or is it?

October 4, 2006, 07:48 PM	#43
Bud Helms Senior Member Join Date: December 31, 1999 Location: Middle Georgia, USA Posts: 13,198	I misspelled it ... Liberwocky I don't think bobhwry intentionally comitted this sin ( ). It is a trap we all fall for nearly everyday. The language is changing. To support the topic: My gun club has a simple rule. Don't drink during a shooting session. Don't drink prior to a shooting session to the extent that you are impaired. Since we know that an alcohol-impaired person is the last person that should decide whether he/she is impaired, we don't drink at all on the day we shoot, until after the range session is over, by general agreement. We have no rule against having a cold beer on range property, but it is frowned on and we do have a very strict rule about leaving trash of any kind. So God help you if a stray beer can gets blamed on you.

October 4, 2006, 08:23 PM	#44
bobhwry Junior member Join Date: April 5, 2006 Posts: 530	Bud, I fully support everyones right to bear arms. Why does that in itself involve any level of risk?? But to blindly accept that all people can handle alcohol and firearms responsibly until proven otherwise is short sighted!! By the time you find out it might be a little late, don't you think?? Yes,alcohol in any situation in which impairment could cause an unintended or tragic result is unacceptable!!! IMO. I'm appalled that you would suggest otherwise!! By the way, I'm not against a little libation, I choose not to mix it with firearms!

October 19, 2006, 04:37 PM	#46
bobhwry Junior member Join Date: April 5, 2006 Posts: 530	Deathrat, Your inane and immature post does not merit a response!! I stand by what I've already said!!