From: gary%ke4zv.uucp@mathcs.emory.edu (Gary Coffman)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: hand shake
Date: 27 Jan 93 03:37:16 GMT
Organization: Destructive Testing Systems

In article <viking.727690601@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu> viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson) writes:
#
#	1) a drink does not mean intoxicated, and like any other drug
#the effects of alcohol need to be monitored and dealt with.  I'm in
#the middle of a homebrew right now.  I would drive a car now, but
#wouldn't handle a firearm or ride my motorcycle.  The latter two
#require much better reactions than the former, and while I believe I
#can competently do the former, I don't trust myself to do the latter.
#Note that I didn't say I couldn't, but that I don't trust myself to.
#I'm more awake than I am within three hours of getting out of bed, but
#I have to draw the line somewhere.  If I lived in California and would
#be driving in 70mph bumper-to-bumper, the car is out too. (I make a
#fairly impotent homebrew.)  Just as I won't ride or shoot while taking
#anti-histamines because I feel my reactions are slowed too much, I
#feel alcohol is no different in its effects and that each individual
#needs to assess for himself the impairment in safety this causes.
#I do not advocate drinking and driving/shooting/riding.  I merely feel
#that the person under the influence is best able to judge how under
#the influence he/she is and act accordingly.  These are dangerous
#things we play with, and we should accept the responsibility of a
#cautious and very conservative approach in this matter.  Frankly,
#if you can't tell your reactions and act accordingly then I have to
#wonder how responsible you really are, and if being drunk is an excuse
#for irresponsible behavior for you.  It is certainly not for me.

*A* drink does not mean intoxicated, at least for most people of
normal body weight. It does slow reaction time, but that's not
necessarily a bad thing on the firing range. Paper punching calls
for deliberation, not speed. A slowing of reaction time can be
fatal in a car, and can ruin a round of skeet, but for the 5 shots
in 10 minutes crowd, it's not a handicap. What may be dangerous,
however, is the loss of good judgement that alcohol brings along.

I would contest most strongly your contention that the person 
under the influence is the best judge of his mental state. That's
obviously not true or there wouldn't be so many drunk drivers
killing people on the roads. When a person who's falling down
drunk thinks he's competent to operate a motor vehicle, his
judgement of his own mental state must be suspect. Persons
with less alcohol in their systems are less impaired, but
there is always some reduction in judgement with even the
smallest dose of alcohol. I would offer in witness to that
your willingness to operate a car but not a motorcycle after
a drink. A car is a much more dangerous instrument. I'd prefer
you ride your bike when impaired. At least you run a smaller
chance of killing someone else. I'd really prefer that you
take a taxi.

I believe the only safe rule is that gunpowder and alcohol do
not mix. However, some cautious experimentation with non-lethal
weapons may be in order, supervised by someone who is stone sober,
to see if a small controlled dose of alcohol is effective in this
case. As a rule, someone acting as his own doctor has a fool for
a patient, and especially so when psycho-active substances are 
involved. Since alcohol dosage is time critical, I don't think
there's a safe way to use it as a method of improving shooting
ability.

Gary
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