Are handguns allowed at work?

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 29, 2014

Fiona guns don't make you 100% safe, just like a having a fire extinguisher doesn't guarantee you will never need the fire department, but we still have fire extinguishers, don't we? They do put some fires out don't they.

Here is my story and maybe this will change your mind! Guns DO HELP make you SAFER!

I was walking home from my moms house a while back, she is about a 15 minute walk away. I live in a very safe town, it was dusk out, I was walking on a very public main road. A whacko driving a car kept driving by me repeatedly creepily looking at me up and down every time he drove by. He then, while driving in the same direction, began stopping a little bit ahead of me on the side of the road in front of me, of course I would stop walking because I didn't want to go near the vehicle. Eventually he pulled into a driveway and turned his car around so he was now parked perpendicular to the road so i now had to walk past the car. As I approached he started to open his door and asked if I wanted a ride, I said no and lifted up my shirt to show the butt of my holstered gun which immediately ended the situation and he took off. I never unholstered the gun, never fired a shot... I was a whopping 115 lbs and he was about 200 lbs. Without my gun my chance of getting away from this creepy freak would have been zero! This wan't a nice guy offering me a ride, this was a creepy awkward man that probably had bad intentions that day. I have no doubt without my weapon this would have ended poorly.

Legal gun carrying citizens have stopped many attacks/crimes, check your statistics before you comment!!! The reason you are made to believe guns are bad and guns don't help make people safer is because the media wants you to believe that, they do not relay the stories where a legally owned gun stopped a crime. Look at the beheading in Oklahoma, god rest that lady's soul, that would have had far more victims if a law abiding citizen had not stepped in and shot the person doing the stabbing, it was a stabbing so should we now outlaw knives?

I do think it is the responsibility of law abiding gun owners to get proper training of the safe use and unholstering of a firearm. I am lucky I live 30 minutes away from a world renowned firearms training center and have taken countless classes.

I hope nothing bad every happens to you, but if it does, such as someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night, you will be wishing you had a gun and praying the people with a gun get to you soon enough!

I live in a state that has pretty lax gun laws and guess what, we are in the top few safest states in the country... guess what the most dangerous states/cities in the country are those with the most strict gun laws... you know why... because criminals know this and they don't give a crap about gun laws!

HPRN

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Oct 29, 2014

I carry an AK 47 into every patient's room...so they'll feel safe, ya know. I only kid, but people need to be rational when making decisions regarding their 2nd amendment rights. Patient safety need not include their nurse packing heat, IMHO.

Fiona59 · Oct 29, 2014

This just shows how little you know. I live in Canada. My husband and sons own legal guns. Criminals don't. Law abiding citizens here keep their weapons in gun safes not in their belt band.

We have at last count 17 guns between them. They hunt, they target shoot, two are military marksmen. They would never carry a weapon around with them.

We have an alarm system and a dog in the house.

We know how to look after ourselves.

Canadian police are armed. Most keep their weapons at work and don't take them home. The ones I know don't even own personal weapons. I have two neighbours who are in the police and they give my sons a friendly hard time when they see them loading up to go to the range.

I feel sorry for you HappyParamedicRN, that you live in such an unsafe society that you feel the need to walk around like something out of a western movie.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 29, 2014

I carry an AK 47 into every patient's room...so they'll feel safe, ya know. I only kid, but people need to be rational when making decisions regarding their 2nd amendment rights. Patient safety need not include their nurse packing heat, IMHO.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16320[/ATTACH]

Sure as heck would get them to put down that call bell now wouldn't it

I don't think we are talking packing heat IN the hospital. People generally carry to and from work and since leaving a firearm in your care unattended puts you at risk for liability it is safer to keep it locked in a locker if at work. I do wish employers were more understanding of this, this world is scary, especially with all the terrorist stuff going on and I think it is wise to protect oneself!

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 29, 2014

So Fiona,

You think if an armed robber breaks into your house an alarm and dog are going to stop them? GOOD LUCK...

There is a HUGE difference between a male needing to carry a firearm versus a female. I have no chance of fighting off an attacker, if god forbid that should happen. Males don't have to worry about being raped and have far less worries about being harmed since they have large musculature. I don't walk around "paranoid", I know there are bad people in this world, I am have awareness of this, you clearly do not! If god forbid someone attacks you or rapes who when your big bad husband or son aren't there you will be in trouble!!

I feel bad for you because you are seriously naive about the world we live in today!! It's not the 1950s anymore, society has changed significantly!

HPRN

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Oct 29, 2014

I would be interested to see the results of a study that compared cortisol levels & frontal lobe activity of armed vs. unarmed citizens.

allnurses Guide · Oct 29, 2014

I will carry my weapon no matter what. If it comes down to hospital policy .. I DON'T care about their policy. My weapon is concealed. They will never know.
Until the time comes that I need to use my weapon.
When I feel the need to brandish / use my weapon... I will have the advantage.. over the aggressor. My Glock is the great equalizer.

I hope this is sarcasm.

Sent from my iPhone.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 29, 2014

I will be honest, as much as I am for carrying, I don't think I would ever take it to work or inside the hospital. There is no place in a hospital you could fire a weapon and not hit someone other than your intended target... to crowded... and the chances of someone having a gun in a hospital are slim. The tough part is wanting to carry to and from work, especially when working nights.

HPRN

studentnursemon86 · Oct 29, 2014

In PA at a hospital near Philly, a psychiatric patient shot and killed a caseworker and shot at a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist had a gun (despite hospital policy barring them) and returned fire.

I'm not sure if this doctor got in trouble with his employer, but it is a good thing he did what he did. More people could have died.

I think if you are trained and have the right licenses, you should be able to carry one. I know the security at my hospital don't have anything, not even pepper spray to defend themselves. We rely on the police department for anything more than physically restraining someone who is trying to harm themselves or others.

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/crime/doctor-2-shot-pennsylvania-hospital-article-1.1879032#bmb=1

sjalv · Oct 29, 2014

I will carry my weapon no matter what. If it comes down to hospital policy .. I DON'T care about their policy. My weapon is concealed. They will never know.
Until the time comes that I need to use my weapon.
When I feel the need to brandish / use my weapon... I will have the advantage.. over the aggressor. My Glock is the great equalizer.

The person whom you quoted did not specifically address you. No idea why you felt the need to go on an NRA-inspired tirade concerning YOUR place of employment. The OP asked about his or her specific facility in Mississippi.

Fiona59 · Oct 29, 2014

I have to ask, where do some of these people posting live? From the sounds of some posters parts of America are more lawless than Mogidshu and Kobani combined.

Living in fear of home invasions and rape in the night? I have relatives in South Africa (one of the most violent places on earth) that don't espouse these views.

Wile E Coyote, ASN, RN · Oct 29, 2014

Handgunlaw.us

sjalv, In your state of OK, the no weapons signs do not carry the weight of the law. If a person is spotted carrying a weapon in a business and refuses a request to leave, said person can be charged with third-degree trespassing and fined a maximum of $250.