I've been a lurker for awhile, and I know that this post has been brought up 1-2 times in the last 2 years that I've been an RN. So... you grouchy old farts that would rather I'd revive an old post can just stuff a sock in it. I want to gauge opinions based on our CURRENT situation after the shooting yesterday in San Bernadino, CA.
Truth be told, One single caregiver with a concealed carry permit could have shut this couple down before they hit 14 fatalities.
I plan on getting my CC in January, but I know as an RN, should my handgun be discovered, I'll probably lose my license. It will stay in my car when I am at work. If someone wants to carry out mayhem at my workplace, we are ALL sitting ducks. It is not ok or fair. What are your thoughts?
I don't know about Security where you work but our's might as well be Buzz LightYear with his Lazer light.
We had a sheriff's deputy killed in our hospital just a few weeks ago. The shooter, a patient who wrestled the gun from the deputy during a scuffle, was bravely subdued (and killed) by security officers with a Taser while he stood over the bleeding, dying officer. The patient was still in the room, still armed with the deputy's Glock. Right outside the room was a fairly busy nurses station with 7 computers.
As a Canadian, we are not allowed to carry concealed, I find the idea of health care workers carrying concealed absolutely horrifying. I totally understand where people are coming from with feeling unsafe at work, but are guns to fight guns really the answer? The problem in the U.S is so much bigger than just fighting gunfire with gunfire. I know a lot of Americans will disagree with me but in places like Canada or Australia where the gun laws are a little bit tighter you don't really see these mass shootings but the U.S is have one on average per day. Up until recently you could buy assault rifles at Walmart, I was shocked to hear that! I understand the personal feelings of feeling unsafe, and of course you will want to do whatever you can to make yourself feel safe- that is human nature. I personally just couldn't imagine my nurse packing heat on one of the floors of our hospital. Even having a gun sitting in a car as someone else said is would be considered unusual here. Different mentalities between the two countries about rights and gun laws I suppose. Stay safe everyone :)
The no background check is nothing but propaganda.
Mandated by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and launched by the FBI on November 30, 1998, NICS is used by Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to instantly determine whether a prospective buyer is eligible to buy firearms. Before ringing up the sale, cashiers call in a check to the FBI or to other designated agencies to ensure that each customer does not have a criminal record or isn't otherwise ineligible to make a purchase. More than 100 million such checks have been made in the last decade, leading to more than 700,000 denials.
Specializes in E/R, Med/Surg, PCU, Mom-Baby, ICU, more.
America's gun problem, explained
America's gun problem, explained - Vox
Still waiting for an explanation why gun homicides have almost decreased by 1/2 since 1993 when the amount of guns in the US has almost doubled... Of course your Vox article quotes Mother Jones stats rather than government stats. Yeah Mother Jones LOL!!!!
Specializes in E/R, Med/Surg, PCU, Mom-Baby, ICU, more.
With private sales you are not required to do an NICS check unless you have an FFL. Any prudent person who sells a gun and does not want it to come back to them will preform this check.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which established categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving a firearm, was enacted by Congress as part of an effort to control gun violence in the United States. As amended, the GCA prohibits the transfer of a firearm to any of the following:
1. Persons who are convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, even if the person received a shorter sentence.
2. Persons who are fugitives from justice.
3. Persons who are unlawful users of and/or addicted to any controlled substance.
4. Persons who are adjudicated mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
5. Persons who are aliens illegally/unlawfully in the United States and nonimmigrant aliens (with certain limited exceptions).
6. Persons who have been dishonorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces.
7. Persons who have renounced their United States citizenship.
8. Persons who are the subject of certain protection orders.
9. Persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
10. Persons who are under indictment (information) for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. If you sell to one of these people YOU are LIABLE. Same goes for the gun shows except some states have made a NICS mandatory. Once again anyone with a FFL is REQUIRED to do an NICS.
In 1997 among State inmates possessing a gun, fewer than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show, about 12% from a retail store or pawnshop, and 80% from family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source.
Specializes in E/R, Med/Surg, PCU, Mom-Baby, ICU, more.
Don't bring firearms or ammunition across the border into Mexico.
Don't carry a knife, even a small pocketknife, on your person in Mexico.
You may become one of dozens of U.S. Citizens who are arrested each month for unintentionally violating Mexico's strict weapons laws.
If you are caught with firearms or ammunition in Mexico...
You will go to jail and your vehicle will be seized;
You will be separated from your family, friends, and your job, and likely suffer substantial financial hardship;
You will pay court costs and other fees ranging into the tens of thousands of dollars defending yourself;
You may get up to a 30-year sentence in a Mexican prison if found guilty.
If you carry a knife on your person in Mexico, even a pocketknife . . .
You may be arrested and charged with possession of a deadly weapon;
You may spend weeks in jail waiting for trial, and tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees, court costs, and fines;
If convicted, you may be sentenced to up to five years in a Mexican prison.
Claiming not to know about the law will not get you leniency from a police officer or the judicial system. Leave your firearms, ammunition, and knives at home. Don't bring them into Mexico.
With private sales you are not required to do an NICS check unless you have an FFL. Any prudent person who sells a gun and does not want it to come back to them will preform this check.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which established categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving a firearm, was enacted by Congress as part of an effort to control gun violence in the United States. As amended, the GCA prohibits the transfer of a firearm to any of the following:
1. Persons who are convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, even if the person received a shorter sentence.
2. Persons who are fugitives from justice.
3. Persons who are unlawful users of and/or addicted to any controlled substance.
4. Persons who are adjudicated mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
5. Persons who are aliens illegally/unlawfully in the United States and nonimmigrant aliens (with certain limited exceptions).
6. Persons who have been dishonorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces.
7. Persons who have renounced their United States citizenship.
8. Persons who are the subject of certain protection orders.
9. Persons who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
10. Persons who are under indictment (information) for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. If you sell to one of these people YOU are LIABLE. Same goes for the gun shows except some states have made a NICS mandatory. Once again anyone with a FFL is REQUIRED to do an NICS.
In 1997 among State inmates possessing a gun, fewer than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show, about 12% from a retail store or pawnshop, and 80% from family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source.
Interesting how old those stats are. Anyway, if you dig down into where those inmates obtained their weapons, over 39% got them from friends or family who did not need an ffl. Doesn't that seem like a glaring loophole?
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
The other night I triaged a young man who had his arm blown clean off with a 50mm round. For reference, that is an anti-aircraft weapon of war. That is African warlord type weaponry.
I live on an Island - an Island - with gun control regulations that far surpass those of California. So tightly controlled are guns here that it is, for all intents and purposes, illegal to have a gun unless you work private security or are a police officer. We are an island, so it is not possible to go one state over and buy a gun easily. There is no hunting culture. All of the typical excuses for why gun control doesn't work simply don't apply here. Yet we have a gun murder rate more than 4 times the national average. Just check the FBI statistics.
Bad people will get guns no matter what you do. Just a few months ago one of my favorite restaurants was the scene of a mass shooting where 12 people were shot and 4 died, at 4 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. All that gun control does is to leave you, the citizen, unarmed as we are, putting bars on every window and door, and ducking every time a firework goes off.
Those of you who are constantly agitating for "common-sense gun control" will be sorely disappointed with the results, and will never cease pushing for more "common sense" regulations till only the criminals have guns. And then you will know what it is to rearrange your schedule to keep from being caught out after dark.
Stop playing politics with such an important question. You have a right to defend your life.
I agree, Jose, "bad" people will obtain guns, by stealing them. The way around that conundrum would be to have all guns "smart guns." The technology is available to do this, but the NRA has blocked it every time. A "smart gun" can only be used by the registered owner as it is keyed to the owner's fingerprint.
Another idea would be to make all gun owners be required to carry insurance on every weapon. Small hand guns, with only six chambers would cost less to insure than weapons with the ability to fire more rounds of ammunition.
I really am interested to know why any individual really needs military weaponry in their possession. Today, the police are "out gunned" by criminals.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I believe in the right to bear arms and only those who follow the newer "no weapons policy" of many public places are sitting ducks not the bad guys and gals who want to harm innocent people and ignore them.
If a person with a gun wanted to shoot up my unit, they could very, very easily. However, if they have an automatic weapon and I have a handgun, they are going to have a much higher chance of killing me before I can even try to protect anyone.
I think perhaps all entering a hospital should go through a metal detector. When I taught in the inner-city all students (middle school level) and staff had to go through one. I felt safer there with drug deals being made across the street and going into lockdown fairly frequently due to gun shots on the streets around the school than I do while on my unit sometimes- especially because it's an inner-city hospital with a lot of patients with gunshot wounds or traumatic injuries with drug deals gone bad on my unit and you never know who might be coming to finish the job.
It probably won't happen until there is a bigger hospital shooting in the ED or med-surg unit than the one at the psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania about 5 years ago. Now, at least now visitors go through a metal detector and bags looked at via x-ray like the airport there but I'm not sure about staff and obviously the patients are checked before admission.
There was a major incident at Johns Hopkins several years ago. I believe the husband of a patient came into the facility with a gun. I know he shot and killed a physician. I don't remember all of the details, but one of the members of this board was working there when it happened. The hospital went on lockdown.
The problem here is that our memories are so short. We say "How terrible!" and then go right back to business as usual.
ETA: Here's a link to the story; it happened 5 years ago.
I agree, Jose, "bad" people will obtain guns, by stealing them. The way around that conundrum would be to have all guns "smart guns." The technology is available to do this, but the NRA has blocked it every time. A "smart gun" can only be used by the registered owner as it is keyed to the owner's fingerprint.
Another idea would be to make all gun owners be required to carry insurance on every weapon. Small hand guns, with only six chambers would cost less to insure than weapons with the ability to fire more rounds of ammunition.
I really am interested to know why any individual really needs military weaponry in their possession. Today, the police are "out gunned" by criminals.
To be honest I am not keen on the idea of a tech enhanced gun with my figerprints (and subsequently a record of how often and where I use it)"registered". I also get this funny pic of those same guns being "disabled" by the government whenever it suits them. No thanks.
To be honest I am not keen on the idea of a tech enhanced gun with my figerprints (and subsequently a record of how often and where I use it)"registered". I also get this funny pic of those same guns being "disabled" by the government whenever it suits them. No thanks.
I read up on this technology as per PMFB's post and it doesn't sound pret-a-porter yet, I agree.
However, why do you think you are so interesting to "them" that they will disable you?
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
That doesn't matter. If I'm armed, I have options I wouldn't otherwise have.
My gun is for self defense FIRST. If I'm able, I might defend you if the opportunity arises.
However, can you react quickly enough to use "that option to defend yourself?" Most of us, including you, would be in shock, and the shooter would be able to shoot you before you could get out your weapon and kill or maim the shooter. If you are in your home, your weapon should be secured in a locked box/safe and that gun should be unloaded and the ammo, while in that locked container, would not be in your weapon. You would have to open the locked container/safe, load your weapon and use it to "defend yourself." By that time, you would be dead or, at best, badly injured.
If you had a license to carry a concealed weapon, you would still be in shock, and it would take several seconds to grab your weapon and use it against the assailant.
I want to gauge opinions based on our CURRENT situation after the shooting yesterday in San Bernadino, CA. 
Neural
56 Posts
We had a sheriff's deputy killed in our hospital just a few weeks ago. The shooter, a patient who wrestled the gun from the deputy during a scuffle, was bravely subdued (and killed) by security officers with a Taser while he stood over the bleeding, dying officer. The patient was still in the room, still armed with the deputy's Glock. Right outside the room was a fairly busy nurses station with 7 computers.
Not all security guards are Paul Blarts.