The Virginia General Assembly, that legislative body that brought you the Droopy Drawers bill and the "No Porn in Your Car bill" has passed legislation that would make having a .02 blood alcohol level while hunting a misdemeanor. That level is 1/4 the legal limit for DUI.
Now I think that guns and alcohol are a very bad mix, since alcohol, as we all know impairs judgment and probably impulse control. So I don't have a problem with the general idea of the law--I think it a good idea.
My problem is the disparity between guns and alcohol and cars and alcohol. Admittedly, the original sponsor of the bill, Sen. Kenneth Stolle (R) wrote the bill with a level equal to that of the DUI level, a BAL of .08. Seems logical to me. But his colleague, Sen.Thomas Norment (R) successfully proposed an amendment to lower the level. What????
Both cars and guns in the hands of those who are drunk are deadly instruments. The operational differences between the two are irrelevant, they both kill. The disparity makes no sense.
Gun Rights advocates actually have now problem with the original bill (by the way it is already a crime to hunt while drunk, there was just no standard in the law). But they have a legitimate issue with the disparate treatment of hunters and drivers. There are often far more drunk drivers on the road (and more innocents potentially involved) than drunk hunters.
To the Virginia legislature--you are quickly becoming a joke with some of your decisions. You need to tell the Sergeant at Arms to go out and requisition some common sense.
Va. Hunter Drinking Limits Eyed (washingtonpost.com)
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