Alcohol and Guns Do Not Mix
Dry-Fire · At Home
No gun for the first part. Holiday parties are this week. Set your rule now, while you are sober: if you are drinking, you are not carrying, and the gun is locked up before the first drink. Decide who is driving. Then, verified clear, run fifteen presentations with a partner calling quadrants and mixing in invalid calls.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 7 yards on the quadrants with a caller. Fire two rounds on each valid call and none on an invalid one.
Service Pistol
Your agency has a policy on off-duty carry and alcohol. Know it exactly.
Concealed Carry
Many states make carrying while intoxicated a crime. In every state it is a bad idea.
Carbine
The same rule applies to every gun in the house.
AUX (when ready): ten straight calls answered correctly.
Make the decision about drinking and carrying before the evening starts.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
You trust your own judgment. Alcohol is the thing that takes it away.
Plan the evening before it starts, including how you get home.
Someone in the group has to be sober and capable. Decide who.
This rule has no exceptions, which is what makes it easy to keep.
Layer: the caller gives two valid calls back to back.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.