Do you carry

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

I doubt this is on many sports writers have experience with ... but
Have you ever carried a gun with work?

Over the last few months local politics have become pretty contentious. We have a fringe group of nut jobs who are making threats against officials, officials I cover as part of my beat.
I am concerned at least one of these nut jobs is ripe to go on a shooting rampage. I am also concerned I would be a target because of some stories I have written.
Concerned enough to consider getting a concealed weapons permit.

My employer doesn't permit us to carry dangerous weapons. Which I understand, but I have a policy not to get shot as a result of my job.

My dad, who worked in the coal industry carried a pistol during strikes. He only pulled it once.

I am considering carrying some protection.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Because of that, and the stabbing at the TV station a week or so ago, you should push for a discussion about newsroom security. And security in general.

I have a CCW permit. I've never carried on the clock, unless you count having a pistol under the seat while on a work-related road trip.

How comfortable are you with firearms? Do you shoot regularly? I'm talking at least once per month. If not, consider pepper spray. While you'd probably get canned for carrying a pistol on the clock, I doubt if they'd have a problem with pepper spray.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Your situation sounds different than ours, where there have been multiple shootings in the newspaper's immediate vicinity, including in broad daylight on a busy block downtown about a five-minute stroll from here. I carried pepper spray every day that I lived in NYC, but not here. I pretty much conceded that in any run-in with the bad guys, I likely would die. Also, I bought some cheap pepper spray. Eventually, that plastic safety thing on top came loose and the spray discharged in my trousers. Good thing I was home ... really stung my thigh and came inches from the nads.

 

[BillyT]

I don't think your employer has a choice, depending on what state you're in.

 

[Tom Petty]

wow, frank. when the spray discharges in my trousers, it takes on a whole different meaning.

 

[MonsterLobster]

Is this the companion thread to "Do you shoot"?

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

I am comfortable with firearms. I own several rifles, all of which are hunting related, an a 9 mm. I am proficient with firearms, but I do NOT shoot regularly.
I am safety conscious.

Pepper spray don't cut it.
I am not worried about a random shooting. I am concerned about a particular nut who fits a profile of a shooter. I don;'t think pepper spray would stop them.

Our office security is a joke.
Anyone can walk in during office hours, unchecked. We have a locked door and buzzer system with a camera for after hours but they let in anyone who buzzes - without checking the camera.

 

[leo1]

I am comfortable with firearms. I own several rifles, all of which are hunting related, an a 9 mm. I am proficient with firearms, but I do NOT shoot regularly.
I am safety conscious.

Pepper spray don't cut it.
I am not worried about a random shooting. I am concerned about a particular nut who fits a profile of a shooter. I don;'t think pepper spray would stop them.

Our office security is a joke.
Anyone can walk in during office hours, unchecked. We have a locked door and buzzer system with a camera for after hours but they let in anyone who buzzes - without checking the camera.

This is a disaster waiting to happen. Get HR's attention on this.

 

[Glenn Stout]

I don't own a gun (but had a member of law enforcement pull one on me when I was reaching for my keys once as he was walking toward me down the street - I shook them and yelled "KEYS!" as loud as I could), but even as a extraordinarily low level public figure, I've still been seriously stalked twice, and as a result have not had a public street address or phone number for almost two decades.

There's nuts out there. And I do carry a knife. I'm not big on guns, but I do understand it.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I am comfortable with firearms. I own several rifles, all of which are hunting related, an a 9 mm. I am proficient with firearms, but I do NOT shoot regularly.
I am safety conscious.

Pepper spray don't cut it.
I am not worried about a random shooting. I am concerned about a particular nut who fits a profile of a shooter. I don;'t think pepper spray would stop them.

Our office security is a joke.
Anyone can walk in during office hours, unchecked. We have a locked door and buzzer system with a camera for after hours but they let in anyone who buzzes - without checking the camera.

If you're going to start carrying, you must shoot regularly. And not just "Go to the range and shoot at a target" style. You've got to practice drawing your weapon from a concealed location, releasing the safety and firing in a smooth, controlled manner. If possible, take a class (not just the one required for the CCW permit, those are a joke) from a firearms instructor on self-defense shooting.

And pepper spray will stop just about anybody. Just get the kind designed for use on bears, not humans.

 

[BillyT]

Is this the companion thread to "Do you shoot"?

That's what I thought it was. ;)

 

[Mark2010]

Every place I worked had a policy against firearms on company property. I don't own a gun, never have, never will.

 

[Stitch]

I am not good around firearms and would probably shoot myself if I had a gun.

 

[SixToe]

Inky makes valid points about practicing, and the situation is ramped considerably in an adrenaline-pumping event when your split-second decisions may have lasting impacts on many lives.

Bottom line is, if you plan to carry concealed then you better be ready to pull the trigger and deal with the ramifications.

While he was letting me have it, I actually thought about whether I had anything on me that could be used as a weapon.

A thumb in the eye. Kicking someone in the balls works along with a palm to the nose. Beat 'em with a garbage can, computer monitor, chair or whatever's handy. "Weapon" doesn't always have to be a knife, gun or club.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

I do, but the boss only lets me have one bullet and I have to keep it in my shirt pocket.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I do, but the boss only lets me have one bullet and I have to keep it in my shirt pocket.

Nice.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

I pulled the pepper spray only once when some homeless-looking guy started threatening me on a sidestreet, and then we just backed away from each other. The only other time it would have been appropriate was on the subway when some guy started threatening a woman with a razor. There were some people between us, however, and they were pushing the other way to try to get away. Then the train stopped and the crazy guy jumped off. I think I was ready to push the button both times, but we'll never really know. I doubt I could shoot anyone. We'll never find out if I could.

Couple weeks ago, some neighborhood guy accosted me outside the paper in the wee hours and claimed to be a former mailroom employee (and our production facility is way out in the suburbs, not here). At first I thought he was full of it, but he knew too much to not be what he said he was. Yes, I was scared. Then I was annoyed, because I was not really into BSing about that night's sports results when I had already worked well past my time to go home. Would my hand have been in my pocket, if pepper spray had been there? Not sure, but probably. But I wouldn't have drawn it. I was kind of wondering where the security guard was and whether that section of the sidewalk was actually covered by camera.

 

[RickStain]

Odds of being shot in a situation where a gun is not present: 0%

Odds of being shot in a situation where a gun is present: not 0%

Percentage of situations in my life where a gun is present: Probably no more than 10%, at the high end, despite living in Guns and Bibles country.

Percentage of situations in my life where a gun is present if I began carrying a gun: 100%

Don't like them odds.

 

[buckweaver]

Our office security is a joke.
Anyone can walk in during office hours, unchecked. We have a locked door and buzzer system with a camera for after hours but they let in anyone who buzzes - without checking the camera.

Last four papers I worked at had similar "security" situations.

At one stop, there was a rash of break-ins in our employee parking lot. Stereos, unsecured electronics, gifts/shopping bags were all stolen from employees' cars. Then one night, our "security guard", a kindly old Asian man, came running through the newsroom and hid in the bathroom because he thought some idiot on the street was about to pull a gun on him. If anyone was out there or if he was just spooked by the dark, I'll never know. He quit the next day, and they didn't replace him (even after the ME finally took our complaints to the publisher). Ridiculous.

So one of our deskers, a crazy character who had once moonlighted as a security guard, found his old shirt and badge and started walking patrols around the building about once an hour on nights he worked, just to give the appearance that someone was paying attention. The break-ins eventually stopped, and while they were probably just random in the first place, I'll gladly give my co-worker the credit for his presence.

What helps more than a gun, I find, is just a freshening up of the ol' resume.

 

[Tom Petty]

Our office security is a joke.
Anyone can walk in during office hours, unchecked. We have a locked door and buzzer system with a camera for after hours but they let in anyone who buzzes - without checking the camera.

Last four papers I worked at had similar "security" situations.

At one stop, there was a rash of break-ins in our employee parking lot. Stereos, unsecured electronics, gifts/shopping bags were all stolen from employees' cars. Then one night, our "security guard", a kindly old Asian man, came running through the newsroom and hid in the bathroom because he thought some idiot on the street was about to pull a gun on him. If anyone was out there or if he was just spooked by the dark, I'll never know. He quit the next day, and they didn't replace him (even after the ME finally took our complaints to the publisher). Ridiculous.

So one of our deskers, a crazy character who had once moonlighted as a security guard, found his old shirt and badge and started walking patrols around the building about once an hour on nights he worked, just to give the appearance that someone was paying attention. The break-ins eventually stopped, and while they were probably just random in the first place, I'll gladly give my co-worker the credit for his presence.

What helps more than a gun, I find, is just a freshening up of the ol' resume.

fake cameras with red motion censor lights ($10 apiece) work wonders in parking lots if your paper's owner is too damn cheap to buy more lighting or security ... much less suggest that staff should carry firearms.