Consuming alcoholic beverages WILL impair your senses, even when done in "moderation". Consider the FACT that many "moderate" drinkers, while not technically "under-the-influence" by legal standards, become involved in motor vehicle collisions. Why? Well, the "moderate" amount of alcohol in their blood system tends to cause them to be less "inhibited". In other words, after tipping just a couple of beers, then getting behind the wheel of a car, they think that they're a "race car driver". No, they're not "drunk", just slightly "impaired"!
Having said that, here's a TRUE story: Back in the early 1980's, several LEO's held a "going away party" for an officer that was transferring to another station. The party was held at a local bar that was in a "safe" neighborhood, but CLOSE to a rotten one. The LEO's had been using that bar as their "watering hole" for many years, and had never had any problems.
The party was held after a work shift, and one particular officer pointed out that the lack of sleep WOULD be a problem for the officers who would be consuming alcoholic beverages. It was agreed upon by the officers attending the party that they would NOT carry their off-duty firearms into the bar, and if anyone got "blitzed", someone else would drive them home.
After about an hour of partying, no one was "blitzed", but...."Murphy's Law" entered the picture! The "safe" bar was suddenly the focus of attention of two armed bad guys, who didn't have a clue as to what they had walked into! All of the patrons were LEO's, but since none of them were armed when one of the bad guys fired off some rounds in the ceiling, then announced that it was a "stick-up", those LEO's were compromised!
....All but ONE particular LEO! He had to work some over-time, so he got to the party late, and was still (thankfully) armed!
I won't go into detail, other than to explain that the ONLY officer that was armed was quite a shot!
Everyone hit the deck when the suspects entered the bar, including the armed LEO. When none of the other (unarmed) LEO's took action, the armed one decided that it was "time". He fired from a good position, dropping the first suspect immediately, then turned to the second suspect and fired. The second suspect also went down, and the unarmed LEO's "swarmed" the suspects, disarming them and taking control. The police were called, and on-duty officers arrived. Both suspects met their demise! All of the party-goers were interviewed, and a lengthy investigation ensued. The armed officer was "praised" for his actions, but was also "chastised" to a certain extent, for having been armed in the bar! Had it been under different circumstances, that armed officer might have received the "Medal of Valor" for what he did, but all he received was the respect of his fellow officers. Later on, he said that he would have ALSO been unarmed, if he had known what had been agreed upon!
Want one more? This has nothing to do with drinking, however. It was a "touchy-feely" training session for police supervisors, held in a posh hotel. The hotel policy was "No guns allowed", so the police agency had all of the supervisors stash their weapons before going into the conference room of the hotel. During the training session, a "Ninja" jumped through a window into the conference room. At first, the police supervisors all thought that the "Ninja" (dressed in all black) was part of the training! It didn't take long, however, before the "Ninja" announced "This is a robbery!", and fired a round into the ceiling. Several police supervisors hustled toward the "Ninja", who fired some more rounds, killing the Chief of police and a Sergeant! During the mass confusion, other police supervisors were able to "swarm" the "Ninja", taking him to the ground and disarming him. During the altercation, the "Ninja" suffocated and died.
Well, first of all, the "Ninja" turned out to the the drug-addicted son of a Superior Court Judge (and, yes, the suspect was of Japanese-American heritage, believe it or not!). Secondly, the armed robbery in that particular conference room had been by mistake! That conference room had originally been scheduled to hold a jewelry and diamond wholesalers convention, but a last-minute switch had been made! Alas, that conference room was filled with LEO's, but none of them were ARMED!
Bottom line: Just exactly WHEN do YOU think that you might NEED to be armed? The officers in the bar used "sound judgement" by choosing to go unarmed while consuming alcoholic beverages, but due to "exigent circumstances", along with that officer not knowing about the unarmed "agreement", a dangerous situation turned out okay.
On the "touchy-feely" training session, due to "exigent circumstances", those LEO supervisors, who were unarmed for "policy" reasons, were suddenly confronted with a deadly situation...and WITHOUT any drinking involved!
Sorry for the "rant"-like response, but I WOULD have been in that bar with the other unarmed LEO's for that "going away party", had it not been for me being sick! The "touchy-feely" training session in the hotel didn't effect me, for I wasn't a member of that police agency, but the hotel was only about one mile from my residence....and I heard all of the police and ambulance sirens! (By the way, the police agency that held that training session was a neighboring agency, not my local police agency. Why they didn't use one of their own facilities for their training session has always been a question in my mind!)
Last, but not least! I have CCW'ed legally for 35+ years. I have done so on a continuous basis, without regard to what might be looked upon as a "rule". I also disregard posted signs of "No guns allowed" in the windows of businessess, for in my way of thinking, that "policy" is "non-applicable" to me....but only from the stance of being a LEO, and now a retired LEO. Hopefully, you "citizens" who have CCW permits will, in the future, become recognized for your "enhancement" of safety within the public! As a long-time LEO, I would much rather have honest, law-abiding and responsible citizens having CCW priveleges/rights, than to worry about "bad guys" that carry WITHOUT permits, and only carry for their criminal acts!
Wordy enough for you? I hope that no one "bashes" me, merely for being a LEO! For my "part", I have done as much as I could for YOUR "priveleges/rights" to carry, and I'm not the ONLY LEO who is pro-gun and pro-citizen! I often recall the incident that took place in Austin, Texas, where an ARMED citizen assisted a LEO in taking out a crazed sniper in a college campus tower. Yes, the LEO was a "hero", but so was the armed citizen! That Austin, Texas incident was a very pure form of "exigent circumstances"!