Read that again. No booze, beer, or alcohol of any kind while carrying. Nothing.

Opponents are predicting blood in the bars, just as they predicted blood in the streets ten years ago when Ohio finally reformed their self-defense laws. “Guns and alcohol don’t mix,” we’re told. And they’re right. The Ohio legislature agrees with them. The ORC says you can’t be under the influence when you’re carrying a firearm. They’ll allow you to have a drink or three, up to 0.08 BAC and still drive, but they don’t think you should have any testable amount of alcohol in your bloodstream when you have a firearm.

Before we go too far, we need to work on our language choices here. In Ohio, a D permit allows consumption of alcohol, including beer, wine, mixed beverages and spirituous liquor on the premises. D permits apply to any establishment, from Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebees and Hooters to Mccarthys Ale House & Patio, Union Bar & Grill, and Billy Goat Tavern, if they sell alcohol for on-premises consumption.

So it’s not just bars. Ohio news media has been fanning the hysteria by using the phrase “guns in bars,” which certainly paints a particular picture in one’s mind. Far better would have been “restaurant carry.” “Firearms in liquor permit premises” would be technically correct as well, but it doesn’t role off the tongue with the same flair and drama as “guns in bars,” does it? Not nearly as hysteria-inducing.

“How are bar owners and bartenders supposed to enforce this?” “How do we know people won’t just say they’re not carrying, and drink anyway?” The same way bar owners and bartenders enforce drinking and driving statutes now. They don’t, and no one expects them to. One person pointed out to me that “Bar owners/bartenders are by law not allowed to serve people, that they can visibly see becoming drunk, more alcohol. It is called the Dram Shop Act.” Let’s look at that.

According to Ohio’s dram shop law, persons who were injured by an intoxicated person may have a cause of action against the business establishment who sold them the alcoholic beverage. The business’ liability depends somewhat on where the injury actually occurred:
• On the premises: If the injury occurred on the business owner’s premises, or in a parking lot under their control, the business owner will be held liable if the injury was caused by the negligence of the business or a business employee.
• Off premises: A business owner or employee may be held liable for injuries that occurred off premises if the establishment sold alcohol to a person who was visibly intoxicated, or if the person was a minor. These injuries may include automobile accidents as well as attacks or fist fights. (Info courtesy LegalMatch.com)

My friend went on to say “It IS the responsibility of the bar owner to make sure that his/her patrons are not intoxicated to the point that they cannot operate a vehicle.” Not exactly. Considering the presumption of intoxication happens at .08 BAC, I would guess that the average bartender or server has no clue when their average customer has reached that legal point, which happens long before they’re stumbling, or slurring their speech. For most people, it happens after the first or second drink. And when’s the last time your server asked you if you were going to drive before they served your third or fourth or fifth beer? When I still drank, I never got asked about my post-consumption plans by a bar employee.

The bee in everyone’s bonnet seems to be that they’re fine with trusting you to stop drinking in time to be safe before you start driving, but they don’t think you can be trusted to not drink at all. Why people fine with allowing people to get behind the wheel of a car after a couple of drinks, but doesn’t think they can be trusted with a firearm at the same point? Scott Heimlich, vice president of the Central Ohio Restaurant Association, says “The law says they can’t consume alcohol, but will that person be honest and play by the rules and not have a drop of alcohol when they have a gun on them?” Well, why wouldn’t they? You trust them about not driving after they’ve consumed a mood-altering depressant. Why shouldn’t you trust them about not consuming that mood-altering depressant in the first place?

It saddens me to think that so many people lose the ability to think clearly when an issue includes the right to self-defense. “I’ve never seen a case that warranted the use of a gun in the bar,” said one Columbus bar owner. But that’s short-sighted. What about the block-and-a-half their patrons have to walk to get to and from their car? What about the trip home? The idea that violent crime only happens in certain areas is frighteningly naïve and prevalent. Violent crime can and does happen anywhere, and the police have no duty to protect you as an individual. It’s nice when they can keep something bad from happening, and they sometimes catch the bad guy quickly, but they’re really only there to write reports, draw chalk outlines around your body, and go after the bad guy after he’s committed the crime.

Ohio is not the first state to recognize that their citizens can be trusted with the ability to carry guns in places that serve alcohol. The predicted blood did not run in the streets or bars or restaurants there, and there’s no reason to think that Ohioans are that different.

The only person directly responsible for your protection and safety is you. Restaurant carry in Ohio just means you can protect yourself in more places.

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

That pretty much sums up my thoughts about this arrest. I’d be curious to know how many law enforcement officials charged with enforcing child pornography or drug laws or weapons laws have crossed the line and violated the very laws they’re sworn to enforce. Maybe this essay should become required in-service training.

Local coverage, with a link to the indictment.

Aside from the trauma of the kids who saw a friendly neighborhood dog shot down for no reason, who’s going to pick up the tab for the cars and houses damaged by the errant gunfire? Personally, I think every officer who fired should be held responsible. Lord knows if a lowly citizen had fired that many times at a dog and missed as many times as Camden’s “finest” did, he’d be on the hook for every single dollar.

The bigger issue here is why the mother has any question about pressing charges. The 17-year-old committed domestic violence, kidnapping, and fraud. Mom was beaten, and forced at gunpoint to drive somewhere and do something she didn’t want to do. At this point, as painful as it’s going to be, mom needs to introduce her daughter to the realities of life, and one of those realities is losing the right to go an Ivy League school after beating and kidnapping your mom. Rachel’s mom needs to accept that she was a victim here. Rachel made the choices to commit multiple felonies, and all the teaching in the world can’t stop stupid.

Marc Neal, minister at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church on East Wilbeth Avenue in Akron, really didn’t want his Lexus repossessed. And the repo guy was feeling a little guilty about it at first, too. He’s feeling less guilty about after the pastor knocked him onto the hood of the car and drove around at speeds of 40 to 60 miles per hour. Neal, who believes gun buyback programs are a good way to “stop the violence,” has been charged with felonious assault, kidnapping and abduction.

Good thing nobody had a gun, pastor. Someone might have gotten hurt.

I wonder how this law in Illinois applies to security cameras? What’s the difference in expectations of privacy or notification there? Many officers are already being recorded, but that recording is the property of the police department. Why should any officer be concerned with a third-party recording of their activities? Are they the only ones who should be allowed to record people’s activities?

Clark County Sheriff's Lt. Eric Holmes salutes the casket of fallen Clark County Sheriff's Deputy Suzanne Hopper. Photo by Marshall Gorby | Springfield News-Sun

Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) are usually well publicized, whether the officer died in a car crash during a snowstorm, or a shoot-out at a bank robbery. It’s a fact of life with a job in the public domain: everything you do gets watched and dissected by the public, including your death.

In the first few hours, the immediate family is notified and sequestered as much as possible. Many members of the media will respect the family in their grief, but there are still some out there who will do anything to get a story. The agency may go so far as to control access to the family’s neighborhood with a roadblock, only letting confirmed residents into the area.

The death is investigated just as any other; it’s just a lot more difficult. Officers and crime scene techs have to compartmentalize their feelings and do the job. Photos, crime scene diagrams, witness interviews. It still needs to be done. The autopsy, too.

Mourning band. Photo by Bill Lackey | Springfield News-Sun

The family makes funeral arrangements according to their wishes. The department will do as much or as little as the family wants. In this day of mobile families, there is no guarantee that the officer will be buried in their jurisdiction. Some families may opt to send the officer home to a family plot on the other side of the country. The department liaison can expedite that process, doing extra work behind the scenes to make it as uncomplicated as it can be from arranging airline tickets to setting up an honor guard to meet the officer on the other end.

The liaison officer is part therapist, part minister, part diplomat and part funeral director. Lots of cops are Catholic, and many parishes have a particular funeral home that traditionally handles deaths in that parish. That funeral home may not have much experience with law enforcement funerals though. The liaison officer can explain to the funeral director what resources are available or expected: an honor guard; a horse-drawn caisson or hearse at the cemetery; a rifle or shotgun squad; a bagpiper or bugler. These days with the focus of many funerals on celebrating the life rather than mourning the death, many people will want to speak at the service. If not kept in check, this can add hours to the funeral. The liaison officer has to be able to convey the family’s wishes tactfully but firmly in assembling the parts of the service.

An officer friend near Houston had this to say about their protocol for liaison officers:

Usually an officer is chosen from the deceased officer’s known circle of friends. The command staff asks the rank and file who it should be, and talks to the families once they get some names. We’re not a huge agency, about 180 commissioned officers, so we all know each other, and a lot of us know each
others families. It’s really not hard to figure out.

This officer’s assignment is to do nothing but be their liaison through the entire funeral and afterward for I think at least a couple weeks. He is to facilitate benefits, advise on counseling and anything else the family may need. His duty time is spent entirely with them, and he is in civilian attire or uniformed attire, as he thinks is appropriate for their needs.

This person is NEVER a supervisor or command staffer, UNLESS the deceased is a supervisor or command staffer. The command staff recognizes that they are not always popular among the rank and file, and their presence at the family residence will not always be well received.

While all of this is happening locally, officers from departments across the country are making travel plans. Some agencies send one official representative who is joined by a number of other officers on their own dime. It’s not uncommon for agencies to send their officers in a cruiser. At the funeral for Deputy Hopper, I saw a cruiser from the Chicago Police Department, among others. I asked my Texas friend about this aspect as well.

If the Department hierarchy decides the Department needs to be represented, the Honor Guard is their contingent. Usually this is accompanied by a member or two of the Command Staff. Air travel is paid in advance by the Department. Officers get hotels preapproved, pay on their own, and are reimbursed for the costs. Officers are reimbursed for meals up to $35 per day. Officers who wish to make the trip but are not part of the honor guard or approved contingency pay their own way.

If it’s driving distance, the officer usually pays for fuel and is reimbursed. A very few officers already have Department credit cards for fuel, and can use those. Our solo units are this way. Usually the cruiser is selected out of our newest cars in the fleet, to better represent the agency.

Chicago Police cruiser in procession for Deputy Suzanne Hopper. Photo by Todd Roberts | Springfield News-Sun

Once all the arrangements are made, it’s conducted much as any other funeral. Instead of a few dozen cars though, the count can be over 1,000. As a funeral escort, I worked one officer’s funeral where the procession was almost two miles long. The lead car was pulling in to the cemetery as the last car left the church, and this was an accidental illness-related death.

At the cemetery, the casket is taken to the gravesite, sometimes to the accompaniment of a bagpiper. “Amazing Grace” is a common selection, as is “Danny Boy.” Prayers are said, “Taps” is played, and a rifle or shotgun squad will fire three volleys, not a twenty-one gun salute, as it’s commonly called. A twenty-one gun salute in the United States is reserved for presidents. The flag is folded crisply by the Honor Guard, and presented to the officer’s next-of-kin. This is the spouse, if married, or the mother, if she survives her son. Some departments will give multiple flags to family members. At some point near the end of the graveside service, many agencies do a final radio call to the deceased officer, and pronounce them off-duty, 10-7, or Signal 37, or whatever the appropriate radio code might be.

They are solemn and somber occasions, and entirely too common these days.

In October 2010, an unidentified Plano, TX sergeant negligently shot a suspected drug dealer as the officer attempted to turn on his Surefire X300, fatally wounding Michael Anthony Alcala, 25. According to this write-up at LineOfDuty.com, the officer was no-billed by a Grand Jury, although the case was still under administrative review in November. Alcala’s wife and mother have filed suit against the City of Plano, but not Surefire or Springfield Arms.

SureFire X300 LED Handgun / Long Gun WeaponLight, shown here on a Glock 37.

The lawsuit uses correct language; this was a negligent discharge, not an accidental discharge. The officer was negligent in the handling of his weapon. His finger contacted the trigger, and the firearm functioned as it was designed to. Had the weapon not been pointed at Alcala when the officer tried to turn on the light, he would not have been struck.

Is it time to re-examine weapon-mounted lights? Perhaps. Certainly we need to re-examine the training regimen. Weapon-mounted lights aren’t a new thing, nor is using the trigger finger to switch the light. But special care must be taken during the training and familiarization to re-wire the muscle memory for officers. They’re used to a single action with their trigger finger, and it takes a lot of repetitions to re-train the mind and body to do something so different.

It’s certainly disappointing to me that no criminal charges were filed at all. I wonder if the circumstances of the shooting have anything to do with it? Alcala was a suspected drug dealer in the middle of a sale. But that’s not a capital offense in the US yet. The officer involved hasn’t been identified as of last month since he’s working undercover still. I question why he’s on the street at this point. He must face some sort of penalty for negligently killing Alcala.