zargof

Just curious, are the punishments on a similar scale as those for DUI?

chartreuse

As far as I can tell (in TX) they're more severe:

- DWI is a Class B misdemeanor,
- Carrying under the authority of a CHL while intoxicated is a Class A misdemeanor,
- And doing that in a bar which derives 51 percent or more of its income from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption is a 3rd degree felony.

Also - there is no "magic number" for BAC when defining "intoxicated" in the firearms statutes, as there is in the driving one. So while a BAC of 0.06 might get you off a DWI, it won't necessarily get you off a carrying while intoxicated charge.

lapin_windstar

Yes, it is, otherwise you're advocating an absolute right to carry guns for everyone, at all times. I think most people would agree with the principle that in some circumstances, the right to carry guns should be curtailed.

The real question is whether in these circumstances it should be restricted. I think it should for the reasons I just mentioned: the benefit (small deterrent of people who already carry weapons) is outweighed by the cost (greater likelihood of morons shooting each other in bar bickers). You don't.

Having said that, if you accept the value of carrying guns for personal protection at all, I can see how a theoretical argument that, say, employees of licensed premises or people that aren't drinking alcohol should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon could be made. (Although I don't know how you'd get around the problem of a boozing dickhead grabbing his sober buddy's gun). FWIW, I also think that there should be a zero limit for BAC when driving, so that could equalize the two principles.

chartreuse

Speaking of Fox, a comment on today's story about this bill made me chuckle: "Best case scenario; we get into a war with Mexico and settle by giving them California. Everybody wins!"

Angelstation

FWIW I was shopping in the hair products section of Wal Mart yesterday and for the very first time in ten years here, I saw someone other than a police officer or security guard carrying a weapon. Unobtrusive little balding guy just looking for Monoxonil I guess. Looked for any obvious ID on him. Wal Mart employee? Private security? Off duty cop? Nope, or at least not obvious. My US husband even remarked it's the first time he'd seen anyone with a weapon in Wal Mart or indeed any other store.

Varmints in Aisle 3 !

chartreuse

AZ has open carry, I think, so it could have been anybody. We only have concealed carry in TX, so while I'm armed every time I go in WalMart, you wouldn't know it from looking at me.

dbj1000

I could have sworn I saw a sign on our local Walmart doors saying that firearms were not allowed in the store. Am I imagining things?

(and yes, I know they sell them!)

penguinbar

Park Slope is actually a very nice area . Lots of familys and beautiful brownstones. Quite safe .

chartreuse

What you saw was a blue sign, warning of the penalties for unlicensed possession of firearms. You're not imagining anything, you just missed an important word.

Poppy girl

Sorry if this was mentioned earlier but watching CNN this morning and they mentioned in a debate about Arizona and said that if you give a life/ride to anyone that is an illegal you too will be looking at a jail sentence

Angelstation

Gulp....Remind me to be VERY nice to you if we should bump into each other at the fruit and veg section.....

Brit3964

That is correct as well as businesses that hire illegals and authorities that are reluctant to take action against them. They are seeking to make life miserable for illegals so that they will either move or be forcibly moved. Unfortunately for the law's supporters it is likely to be found to be unconstitutional eventually.

chartreuse

LOL - it's not at all scary. If I were you, I'd be more perturbed by the fact that you had gone all the way to TX to do your grocery shopping.

As it happens, you got me wondering what proportion of folks carry. So I looked it up - there's a shade over 400,000 active licenses in TX, out of a population of just under 25 million. So that means a little over 1.6% of folks in TX have a CHL.

Michael

There are two major problems with current US immigration law.

First is that there are only 66,000 annual H2B visas (seasonal worker visas) available towards a needed workforce of about 10 million.

The second problem is that the government must prove that employers knowingly hired an illegal immigrant in order to be fined. In order to increase the fine, the government must prove that the employer knowingly hired each of the illegals and not just prove that the employer had a policy to hire illegal immigrants. Fines are civil and criminal prosecution is now allowed. Therefore seldom does the government impose fines on employers of illegal immigrants.

There is an ideological split on how immigration should be handled. Republicans generally favor low quotas for seasonal workers to prove that they are tough on immigration but generally favor weak enforcement since they worry that large companies such as Archer Daniels Midland could go under if illegals were not hired by those companies.

Democrats generally have the opposite beliefs supporting very high seasonal worker quotas and strong enforcement but oppose strong enforcement since the quota is so low.

Nothing will be solved until those issues can be resolved.

Giantaxe

A very nice summary of the political divide... personally, I think the Republican position is hypocritical, in that they are essentially turning a blind eye (no criminal prosecutions, minimal fines) to the hiring of illegal immigrants whilst at the same time claiming to be tough on illegal immigration. They are essentially ignoring the most powerful lever to cracking down because it might affect the bottom line of US businesses.

Interestingly, my (very large) current employer has been told by the US government, that it must re-verify the documentation of all its US employees - original documents, no photocopies accepted. I don't know whether this is something peculiar to my employer, or something more general.