Firearms

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I thought this was an interesting discussion that happened to pop-up on a certain social media site. How many of you conceal carry? And what do you think about prohibiting firearms on hospital property?

I think with the increasing violence these days, safety is a major concern for everyone. How do you protect yourself and still abide by the rules set by your facility?

Specializes in PACU, ED.
Luckily most maniacs understand that a hospital has pure intentions, non political or religious. i am all for metal detectors and guards, not guns.

Yes, I have rarely heard of guns being fired in hospitals. I was at work the day a guy came into our department, handed a suicide note to a doctor, and then shot himself in the head. We don't know why he chose the hospital, there was no connection to anyone working or hospitalized there. Perhaps he was afraid he might botch the job and didn't want to suffer in pain.

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Specializes in Med/Informatics.
There is some evidence to support the notion that more religion = more murder, It's talked about in this article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201103/misinformation-and-facts-about-secularism-and-religion

A quote from the link:

Oh I definitely don't doubt it!

Interesting article, love Psychology Today.

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Specializes in PACU, ED.
How MUCH training? And still, human behavior under stress with a gun is not something I'm willing to bet on.

There are many different ways people introduce stress into their training. It is not as stressful as being a target but it should help. Here is one example.

Training for High-Stress Self-Defense Shooting at Home | The Daily Caller

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Specializes in Oncology.

Can anyone point me to an article where violence was started, or it escalated or whatever, and a concealed handgun license holder attempted to defend themselves and shot an innocent person instead?

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Specializes in OB.
Can anyone point me to an article where violence was started, or it escalated or whatever, and a concealed handgun license holder attempted to defend themselves and shot an innocent person instead?

I posted earlier in this thread about the recent incident in Houston where a bystander shot at carjackers and instead shot the carjacking victim in the head.

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Specializes in Oncology.

Ok, so that's one isolated incident... Remind me how many people are concealed handgun license holders in the U.S.? And how many innocent bystander shootings are committed in the U.S. by police officers each year?

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Specializes in critical care.
I'm also somewhat familiar with the level of training that law enforcement officers receive in terms of firearms use, use of force, and weapons retention. I would say that the level of training that the typical LEO receives is more like a floor. Sure, you can go beyond that, but many don't. You don't have to be a LEO to get training that is equivalent to that floor.... or to exceed that by quite a bit. Again, many don't do that. Here's something to think about, and something to ask your husband: now that he's a working cop, how often does he have to demonstrate his retention skills, shoot a requalification course, and go through a legal update, to academy standards?

I know that in California, a CCW holder must sit through a legal refresher course and requalify by shooting a course of fire. That's a requirement.

If I were a CCW holder, there are very few places that I would actually NOT be allowed to carry. There isn't a hospital in my County that actually doing so is illegal. If discovered, I can be asked to leave, but that's a trespass issue, not a gun issue. If I was discovered doing so as an employee, my employer could sanction me, but I would still NOT face criminal repercussions. Again, a civil matter, not a criminal one. The same goes for any other business. This, I know for certain, is not the case in all states. In some states, an exactly properly worded sign carries a weight of law that invalidates a CCW license upon that property.

He goes through recert annually. And I'm thinking it's hard, because he gets nervous before every time.

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Not every need for CCW is an armed gunman bursting into the hospital.

A while back at a hospital in my town a young nurse was strangled to death in a stairwell. I believe it was her ex boyfriend that did it. She was only a few feet from co workers on the other side of a door and no one heard a thing. They found her body several days later when she didnt show up for her next shift.

My wife was stalked multiple times by hospital staff or patients. One more memorable incident over several weeks a janitor would follow her through the hospital, through the parking garage and watch as she would get into her car. At other times he would turn up all of the sudden along the path from her unit to her car. She finally reported him to security and he stopped.

A few months later the administration got the smart idea that none of the nursing staff would be allowed to park in the hospitals parking lots /garages any more (note this applied only to nursing staff). Instead they were directed to park at the administration building located about a mile and 1/2 away from the hospital. While there was a shuttle provided they were all encouraged to walk the mile and 1/2 as they received reduction off their health insurance for doing so.

This mile and 1/2 walk was down some very sketchy dark roads, when it finally opened up to the main streets they got the pleasure of walking past dive bars and XXX book / movie stores.

This never sat well with me and I often wondered what would happen if some nurse was attacked while walking this route. I'm soo glad my wife transferred to another location. She carried pepper spray but never CCW.

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Specializes in Oncology.

SimonJester, that's horrible!! I can't believe a hospital would do that! Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

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SimonJester, that's horrible!! I can't believe a hospital would do that! Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

That is what I thought also, even worse that it only applied to "Nursing" staff. Not the Administrators and of course not the Drs, Surgeons, etc.

When working a 7 to 7 shift it gets very dark 7:00pm in the winter months. I had my wife call me when she left the hospital and when she got to her car.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
SimonJester, that's horrible!! I can't believe a hospital would do that! Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Indeed, very horrible. I am not the least surprised that a hospital would do that though.

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Specializes in critical care.
Not every need for CCW is an armed gunman bursting into the hospital.

In case you have misunderstood, no one in this thread is suggesting this at all. The focused topic of this thread is opinions and allowance of CCW in hospitals and on hospital property. That is why the majority of this thread focuses specifically in hospitals and on hospital property.

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