Guns and Alcohol Don’t Mix

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

I know you know this, as a responsible gun owner… but guns and alcohol really don’t mix. Every year there are accidents where people get killed by “celebratory gunfire,” fueling the anti-gun rhetoric. If I have to say it, anyone who would fire their gun up into the air, as an act of celebration, shouldn’t be carrying that gun in the first place; nor should anyone who is having too much to drink.

I used to live in an area where the police on-duty would park their patrol cars under overpasses, monitoring the radio, at prime times for such gunfire. The worst such time is approaching midnight on New Year’s Eve, but Christmas night can get pretty bad too.

But the question is… what do you and I do about it? I’m going to assume that you aren’t the type who is going to have too much to drink on Christmas or New Years. Therefore, you’re safe with a gun. I’ll also assume that if you are planning on drinking too much, you’re going to leave your gun home, even if you carry regularly. That’s what responsible gun owners do, right?

But not everyone who owns a gun is a responsible gun owner. They may not even know the four rules of gun safety. Regardless of their reason for owning or carrying a gun, they take the right more seriously than the responsibility that goes with it.

The question again is… what do you and I do about it? On one hand, it’s not our responsibility; but on the other, as gun owners, we care about gun laws and don’t want to see the anti-gun mob get any more ammunition for their campaigns. Besides, none of us want to see someone get hurt or killed over a drunk celebration.

Here’s my suggestion. We should become more aware of our fellow party-goers, looking to see who is armed and who isn’t. There are only so many places where people can carry a gun and it usually makes some sort of bulge under their clothes. If you’re aware of that, you can often spot who’s carrying, without having to pay a whole lot of attention. It can just become a part of your “condition yellow” state of monitoring what’s going on around you.

If you see someone who’s armed and is a bit too much into their drinking, it would probably be a good idea to gently talk them out of their gun. I say gently, because some people become belligerent when they’ve had too much to drink. Catch them before they’re actually drunk and your chances are better. if they’re not a direct friend of yours, then recruit someone who is to help you convince them. The last thing you want is a confrontation.

In the cases where you can’t talk someone out of their gun, you’re left with two options. The first is to get out of there, before they decide to fire a celebratory shot in the air. If you decide you can’t leave, for whatever reason, then I’d recommend staying close to that person, keeping an eye on them.

Disarming someone who is about to do something foolish with a handgun is not all that hard. It’s a whole lot easier than disarming someone who is pointing a gun at you. The trick is to work quickly, so that you catch them by surprise. With one hand, you need to take control of the pistol, by grabbing the barrel. At the same time, the other hand should slap their hand, literally slapping the gun out of their grip. This works best if you slap the finger side of their grip, rather than the back of their hand.

Once you get the gun out of their hand, unload it as quickly as possible, allowing the rounds to fall on the floor if necessary. The idea is to try and make sure that the gun is unloaded, if they try and get it back from you. That’s not likely to happen, as your actions will probably have a sobering effect on them. Nevertheless, you can never count on the actions of a drunk person.

Don’t get me wrong here; I’m not dismissing the risk in taking this sort of action. But this is less of a risk than anything else you can do, other than to leave so that you’re not there if something happens. If you’re going to be there, this is a much better way of being a hero, than drawing your own firearm.

It’s all about staying ready, in condition yellow, just like keeping your powder dry and your survival gear close at hand.

Have a very Merry Christmas,

Dr. Rich