• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

A Policy For Guns In The Workplace

TFred

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
7,750
Location
Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
So I was browsing around a major international security organization's website tonight (they are conducting their annual seminar and convention next week in Atlanta) and found their official publication, which included the subject article. To say I was surprised is an understatement. Could there be hope for a reasonable discussion on this topic? This organization has a lot of influence.

First couple of paragraphs below.

TFred

A Policy For Guns In The Workplace

A Policy For Guns In The Workplace
Kenneth J. Miller
09/25/2014 -

Most states now allow employees to carry concealed firearms or to store guns in cars on company property. Corporations have the right to deny all weapons on their property, but this may not be realistic in today’s environment. Instead, companies should focus on employees who want to carry concealed guns in the workplace and ensure that they are responsible and capable enough to bear the responsibility. All employees will have a better sense of security if they believe that management has done their due diligence by ensuring the people who carry guns are not a threat to the company.

Companies should implement a comprehensive policy that looks at the issue holistically and addresses not only guns, but violence in the workplace. The first step is to develop a multidisciplinary team to frame the issue and develop appropriate policies. [...]​
 

Tess

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Messages
3,837
Location
Bryan, TX
I also own a copy of a 2006 book titled "Guns in the Workplace: A Manual for Private Sector Employers and Employees" by Chuck Klein (Merrill Press, Bellevue, WA, ISBN 13: 988-0-836783-49-9) which is a guide to how to develop a workplace policy. The book is available through Amazon, last I looked.
 

Brian D.

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
937
Location
Cincy area, Ohio, USA
I don't see this manner of enlightened corporate thinking as something that will sweep American workplaces anytime soon. Sure would like to be wrong though.
 

Maverick9

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
1,404
Location
Mid-atlantic
They could have a screened, vetted, private security force for free. Instead they'd rather pee themselves and hide under the desk as their threat response.

There was a firm of lawyers in San Francisco that was shot up in the past several years and nobody had a firearm. Bet they do now.
 

TFred

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
7,750
Location
Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
I don't see this manner of enlightened corporate thinking as something that will sweep American workplaces anytime soon. Sure would like to be wrong though.
That's sort of my point in posting this, but maybe I didn't get it out there. I wish I had a way to get this article in front of some eyes with access to large scale exposure.

The organization that published this article is one of the major professional security affiliation groups out there. This would be something like the American Bankers Association writing an article in support of allowing customers and employees to carry in banks in case they are robbed, or the American Medical Association writing an article on how to implement a policy that allows doctors and nurses to carry on the job in case some mental case comes in with a weapon.

These folks set trends in the industry, and while not all will openly embrace this one, the fact that a well-reasoned article was published by a group of this stature is astounding, and needs to get lots of light.

TFred
 

Marco

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
3,905
Location
Greene County
Simple:

If carrying at work doesn't violate the law, weigh the risk/reward factors and decide accordingly.

If carrying does violate the law "might" want to consider finding the most effective tool that you could have access to and practice with..
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Simple:

If carrying at work doesn't violate the law, weigh the risk/reward factors and decide accordingly.

If carrying does violate the law "might" want to consider finding the most effective tool that you could have access to and practice with..

Office settings are chock full of weapons, even when there is a "No Firearms, No Knives" policy in place. Move to an industrial or food service setting and the word "arsenal" becomes an accurate description of how much is available.

How does that saying go? "The mind is the weapon; everything else is just a tool."

stay safe.
 

Repeater

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
2,498
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
National Review has a contrary view

I don't see this manner of enlightened corporate thinking as something that will sweep American workplaces anytime soon. Sure would like to be wrong though.

Great observation. Regrettably, "enlightened" thinking seems to elude certain conservatives and libertarians. I disagree with Charles C. W. Cooke on this commentary he wrote at National Review:

“Bring your gun to work” laws and their ilk are a perversion of the principles that got us here.
As a matter of personal preference, I would certainly encourage private companies to allow their employees to bring their firearms to work, and, as a matter of taste, I would prefer it if those who have been discovered violating company policy were treated gently — especially if they were forced to break the rules in self-defense. But, unless one is to wholly rewrite the nature of American constitutional government, these decisions must be reserved to the private sector, and not to local voters or representatives. Like all of the provisions within the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment serves as a check on government and on government alone. It does not apply to Walmart or to FedEx or to Joe’s Highway Diner. When the NRA gripes that some politicians are “heeding corporate concerns” over the predilections of gun owners, what it is really saying is that those politicians are respecting property rights and refusing to get involved where they are not welcome. At what point, one wonders, did that become undesirable to liberty-loving people?

He misses the important point: this is a civil rights issue. If employers discriminate against gun owning employees, based on gun-based phobias, then such discrimination lacks a rational basis. Therefore, legislatures can resolve this problem by providing civil rights protection to these employees.
 

hunter45

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Messages
969
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Wunderbar!

Too bad you can't set foot outside the door that way. (Best wishes on the efforts to change that.)

stay safe.

Well, I can, thanks to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act :). I don't understand why SC doesn't have open carry. Hopefully it'll change. I know our current governor is an outspoken supporter of constitutional carry.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Well, I can, thanks to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act :). I don't understand why SC doesn't have open carry. Hopefully it'll change. I know our current governor is an outspoken supporter of constitutional carry.

Around here cultured folks do not discuss their privileged status. It makes other folks start quoting things about some pigs being more equal than the rest of the animals.

And if you are wearing a costume while OCing at work that does not count.

stay safe.
 

scouser

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
1,341
Location
804, VA
Around here cultured folks do not discuss their privileged status. It makes other folks start quoting things about some pigs being more equal than the rest of the animals.

And if you are wearing a costume while OCing at work that does not count.

stay safe.

and the best place for a pig is with a stick up its ass as it gets turned over an open fire
 

hunter45

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Messages
969
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Dang, y'all need to lighten up, it was a joke. What happened? Y'all used to be so much friendlier! Things got that much worse since I left Virginia?
 

va_tazdad

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
1,162
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Dang, y'all need to lighten up, it was a joke. What happened? Y'all used to be so much friendlier! Things got that much worse since I left Virginia?

Just the LEOs. Sadly, they are improperly trained and uneducated in the laws of the Commonwealth.

We still have a great sense of humor, but the LEOs and the courts have been screwing the citizens as of late.
 

hunter45

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2008
Messages
969
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Well, for what it's worth, I'm not a regular pig. I'm just a probation officer. But even after becoming a LEO, I'm just as supportive of OC as I was before!
 

2a4all

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
1,846
Location
Newport News, Virginia, USA
Well, for what it's worth, I'm not a regular pig. I'm just a probation officer. But even after becoming a LEO, I'm just as supportive of OC as I was before!
I met a woman recently (at the Hampton Gun Show) who said she was a former Probation Officer, and that she carried because those who shouldn't have guns already do.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Well, for what it's worth, I'm not a regular pig. I'm just a probation officer. But even after becoming a LEO, I'm just as supportive of OC as I was before!

Then show your support of OC by carrying without your "I am special" Junior G-Man Badge. Deal with the issue of OCing like the rest of us have to.

stay safe.
 
Top