Concealed Carry...as a nurse?

Nurses Activism

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  1. Do you have a concealed carry license?

    • 148
      Yes, although it stays in the car/home while at work.
    • 68
      Yes, it is always on me no matter where I am.
    • 104
      No, I do not see the need.

227 members have participated

With the current news over gun control and gun rights legislation being pushed through Congress as a result of the tragedies of Aurora, CO, Newtown, CT and the others like them, the thought of concealed carry among healthcare workers has got my attention peaked. Recently, another Allnurses member started a thread (up to 22 pages presently) about what nurses can do as a result of these horrific events.

This post is not meant to reflect my personal stance on this issue, although I can inform that I am not a CCL holder (however interested), nor is it meant to be a bashing session from either side, but I am interested in seeing how many individuals have their concealed carry license, and if they carry while they are at work (and, yes I am well aware of the legal stance healthcare facilities take as being gun free zones)?

I, also, am aware of some of our members being both nurses and current/former law enforcement officers, so what is your take on this issue?

Fewer guns may not = less violence. Fewer guns likely may = less destructive violence. I can do a lot more damage with 6 bullets in a couple minutes than I can with one knife.

Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..
Fewer guns may not = less violence. Fewer guns likely may = less destructive violence. I can do a lot more damage with 6 bullets in a couple minutes than I can with one knife.

That is true, wooh, but it provokes two questions that we should think about. First, if someone does do damage with a knife or gun, how will they be stopped by unarmed victims? The second question that comes to mind is, how do we figure into the equatiom the many lives that are saved every day by private citizens using guns legally to stop violent crimes. In most of those cases no shots are fired. The violent individual usually runs away when he discovers that his intended victim is not as helpless as he thought.

Do you see what I mean when I write that simplistic, one solution fits all proposals fail to address what is actually a complex problem?

If someone does do damage with a knife, I'm a lot more likely to be able to defend myself unarmed than I am against someone with a gun.

How do crime victims defend themselves in England? People all over the world are able to defend themselves without arming themselves with guns.

Is it really a good idea to arm people that admit their aim is too bad to depend on a taser? Sure, she might stop her assailant, but how many other people are going to get shot until she finally hits her intended target?

How many people are keeping a gun in their house for self-defense, and end up with a member of that household getting shot?

And why is all that carnage ok just because someone lives in an area with different "socio-economics" (aka, there are scary black people) and wants to defend themself? Get rid of the guns, and you won't have to work so hard to defend yourself.

Of course, forgot self defense, then we have people claiming we have to defend ourselves from the government. The government that has nuclear weapons, but yeah, it's your Glock that's gonna save you from the big bad government.

By the way, why is your solution of arming everybody any less simplistic than taking guns away?

Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

I can't speak for everyone, but some of my patients are 'scary white people' too.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Wooh, since your comment seemed aimed at me, I'll respond. If I WERE to get a gun, I would be responsible about it and go to target practice. Can you even do that with a taser? If I admit that aim is an issue, I would strive to improve it, for my protection and that of those around me who I might accidentally hit while trying to defend myself.

As for people getting injured with a gun being kept in their home...well, that is what safes are for. Personally, if I had a gun, it would be kept in that safe at all times when I am home, and the only people with the combination would be myself and my fiance. But several of us have tried to argue responsible ownership.

And none of us has said that carnage is ok. Carnage is never ok, no matter what neighborhood or socio-economic class you are from. The reality though is that people from lower socio-economic classes are more likely (not everyone of course, just more likely than higher socio-economic groups) to engage in criminal activity, if only to make ends meet and support their families. And someone who plans to engage in criminal activity is unlikely to do so with a registered weapon. Do you think that making guns illegal would limit their accessibility to those who use them in this context? Has that happened with drugs? Nope. So, making guns illegal or less accessible would not reduce their availability to those who would use them to hurt or engage in crime, but WOULD make them less available to those who would genuinely use them for protection and nothing else. And of course, as others have said, violent crimes are committed using many other weapons than just guns.

Oh, and why is it that people keep making this about skin color? Like AngelFire said, there are definitely some scary white people too. Heck, statistically speaking, there are a lot more Caucasian serial killers than any other ethnic background. A violent criminal is someone I want to protect myself from, no matter what color their skin is.

Of course, guns are not the final answer. As I said in one of my first posts on this thread, there are many things that need to be worked on. Better mental health screenings as well as treatment and follow-up. Better education, especially in more at-risk settings (ie. inner city schools), focusing on the importance of education, since so many kids come from families who just don't value a good education. Or just look at the influence of gangs and drug cartels all over the US. I was watching a documentary a few nights ago on cartels in the US, and it's a scary thing!

I mean, I don't have the answers, and I don't pretend to have them. But until either weapons are no longer available to ANYONE, or I can fully depend on law enforcement to protect me and my loved ones, then people need to have some way to defend themselves.

And let's not forget the zombie apocalypse people! :p

Specializes in Med-Surg.

And Wooh, I also wanted to say that even if we disagree on this, I still very much respect your knowledge, your caring, as well as your optimism, although I think the utopia needed for what you suggest is still very far out of reach in the US currently.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
Atlanta...geesh. I feel for you. My cousin works in Birmingham, another works in Tuscaloosa. Metal detectors in the ERs in both hospitals.

I remember going to DCH in Tuscaloosa and being wanded in the ER. Blew my mind. That was ten years ago, before I wised up.

Nevermind, I realized I was going to post something that might make it fairly easy to identify me.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
Yeah, I remember before I moved, that year in Montreal, it was mid-February before we had the year's first murder. I don't think I even locked my door at night. Now, in Atlanta, I think there is at least one murder mentioned in the news every day. I lock my door at all times, day or night. Ok, I know the population of Atlanta altogether is much higher, but still. A month and a half vs. every day occurrence? With that much violent crime, I definitely see why people in the South are so gun-happy!

Heh, I remember asking a friend in Atlanta, when she was considering working at Grady, if they made scrubs with built-in Kevlar. That's the only way I would do it.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
I spend more time at the desk than most nurses, so I'm the first person that gets their face blown off. When I start carrying, if I feel a visitor that's been a horse's butt might come back later armed, I won't be hesitating to go to my car and carry it in. I'll work out the legal issues later. And polish my resume. I can hear it now. "Thanks for saving lives. You know we have to fire you, right?" lol

You should google the principal who stopped the shooting at the school in Pearl, Mississippi. He's had to live with consequences. He saved lives, and he's treated like a pariah. Not that that should stop anyone from acting, but honestly, you have to be "downtrodden" before a liberal cares about your life.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
I think the best thing that your employer should do is hire a safety officer (a vet to give them a job and put their skills to good use as a civilian) to be on-site should any threats occur. I think it's absurd you would bring a gun to work and even think of killing a patient. You work in pain management which is one of the most difficult areas of healthcare and those patients may have some mental health issues, etc. But you choose to work there and work to care for these patients. Alabama is a very racist crazy state so I am not surprised that this is tolerated there.

Wow, judgmental much? Don't like Alabama? In the immortal words of Lewis Grizzard, a great American, "Delta's ready when you are, we can have you in Cleveland by evening."

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
I own a firearm (and sometimes carry) and am not a Christian. I have yet to feel the impulse to harm another human being who has made no threats against me. This is not a religious issue whatsoever. Let's agree to not discuss this further, since it seems like every thread that gets too deep into religion gets closed (probably somewhat in part due to me). Let's keep this about our natural right to defend ourselves, about which I vehemently agree with you.

And I am a "born again" Christian who regularly attends a very conservative church, and my sweet Christian husband, sitting in the pew with me, is armed. If he's dressed, he's armed. If undressed, the gun is accessible. I'm not comfortable carrying myself, I'm not confident enough in my ability to actually fire it and not have it taken away from me, but I have access to numerous guns should someone break in my house. How many? I have no idea. The last time I asked sweet husband for a tally, he told me that, for the retention of peace in our house and marriage, I was better off not knowing how many guns he owned.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
If someone does do damage with a knife, I'm a lot more likely to be able to defend myself unarmed than I am against someone with a gun.

How do crime victims defend themselves in England? People all over the world are able to defend themselves without arming themselves with guns.

Is it really a good idea to arm people that admit their aim is too bad to depend on a taser? Sure, she might stop her assailant, but how many other people are going to get shot until she finally hits her intended target?

How many people are keeping a gun in their house for self-defense, and end up with a member of that household getting shot?

And why is all that carnage ok just because someone lives in an area with different "socio-economics" (aka, there are scary black people) and wants to defend themself? Get rid of the guns, and you won't have to work so hard to defend yourself.

Of course, forgot self defense, then we have people claiming we have to defend ourselves from the government. The government that has nuclear weapons, but yeah, it's your Glock that's gonna save you from the big bad government.

By the way, why is your solution of arming everybody any less simplistic than taking guns away?

Get rid of the guns, and you won't have to work so hard to defend yourself?? Oh, yes, I get it. "But scary home invader, I'm a good person, I believe in peace and social justice, don't hurt me, hurt my gun-toting redneck racist neighbor." Yeah, that will work.

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