Booze and common sense

Whenever a failure to use common sense results in harm, there is usually an attempt to replace common sense with a law. That's the background of three proposed laws involving the actions of those who drink alcoholic beverages.

One proposed law would make it illegal to drink and hunt. This law is backed by a family who suffered the tragic loss of an 18-year-old son who was killed by a friend's father who had been drinking. The father was later charged with a misdemeanor assault and given a suspended sentence. His blood-alcohol content was never tested.

It already is illegal to hunt while drunk. There are laws that apply to firing a gun while drunk. And there is a state law making possessing a firearm while intoxicated a felony. But there is no law that recognizes that hunting and drinking can be a bad combination.

Two other proposed laws attempt to address drinking parties attended by underage minors.

One would make a detectable blood-alcohol content the equivalent of possessing an alcoholic beverage. Currently, minor who aren't seen holding a beverage container by law enforcement officers cannot be cited for underage possession of alcohol.

Another would make it a misdemeanor for property owners to allow minors to consume alcohol on their property, even if they didn't provide the booze. Currently, property owners who claim they didn't provide the alcohol are rarely investigated to prove otherwise.

It's a sad commentary on current social mores that far too many parents think it's OK to provide both the alcohol and a place to consume it for their underage children and their friends.

Whether or not these proposed laws would result in fewer deaths or injuries remains to be seen. But these proposals, and others like them, are good topics for the legislative process, which constantly weighs the need for a new law against the social, economic and political ramifications of such legislation.