A gun free zone as a place of employment

[tattedupboy]

I am a Hearing Officer in the County Assessor's Office. It probably goes without saying that, because it's a government building, guns aren't allowed. However, security doesn't require employees who are displaying their county ID's to go through the metal detector; many times, even those who don't have their ID visible are still allowed to go through, as long as the building security knows them. The problems here are obvious; conveivably, any employee could be carrying. That's not my concern; my concern is a disgruntled employee who may have gotten fired the previous day; if security doesn't know they got fired, the former employee could easily get in and shoot up the place. I follow the rules and leave my gun in my car because, let's face it, I need my paycheck, and I don't want to take the chance that someone sees my gun.

Has anyone else here ever faced this sort of dilemma? Not allowed to carry, but could probably get away with it? What have you done in such a scenario?

 

[Eidolon]

You're far more likely to get caught with a gun you're not supposed to have and get fired than you are to actually need it at work.

 

[snatale42]

I am a Hearing Officer in the County Assessor's Office. It probably goes without saying that, because it's a government building, guns aren't allowed.

Does it go without saying? I don't live in your state but in my current and last state that wasn't the law, it was assumed by almost everybody, but wasn't actually the law. Here in VA I can walk into a Police Station or Airport as long as I'm in a section that's accessible to the public and I don't try to go into a secured area which most people would bet money is off limits. I just scrolled through the IN section on handgunlaw and didn't see anything that prohibited carry just because it's county owned. There was some state stuff in there that's off limits and I could have missed something but didn't think so.

 

[tattedupboy]

Does it go without saying? I don't live in your state but in my current and last state that wasn't the law, it was assumed by almost everybody, but wasn't actually the law. Here in VA I can walk into a Police Station or Airport as long as I'm in a section that's accessible to the public and I don't try to go into a secured area which most people would bet money is off limits. I just scrolled through the IN section on handgunlaw and didn't see anything that prohibited carry just because it's county owned. There was some state stuff in there that's off limits and I could have missed something but didn't think so.

Legal or not, most people, myself included, aren't going to go into a government building armed, whether it's federal, state, or municipal. Besides, just about all of them have metal detectors anyway.

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[NavyLCDR]

Has anyone else here ever faced this sort of dilemma? Not allowed to carry, but could probably get away with it? What have you done in such a scenario?

I would venture a guess that about 80% of employed persons in this country are prohibited by their employer from carrying a gun at work while on the clock. And the vast majority of those have no security in place at their place of employment. Think Wal Mart, for example.

 

[Bikenut]

Originally Posted by snatale42 View Post
Does it go without saying? I don't live in your state but in my current and last state that wasn't the law, it was assumed by almost everybody, but wasn't actually the law. Here in VA I can walk into a Police Station or Airport as long as I'm in a section that's accessible to the public and I don't try to go into a secured area which most people would bet money is off limits. I just scrolled through the IN section on handgunlaw and didn't see anything that prohibited carry just because it's county owned. There was some state stuff in there that's off limits and I could have missed something but didn't think so.

Legal or not, most people, myself included, aren't going to go into a government building armed, whether it's federal, state, or municipal. Besides, just about all of them have metal detectors anyway.

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Perhaps most people should go armed everywhere it is legal to do so in their State including government buildings. I spent 10 months open carrying while attending township meetings, held in the municipal building, just to get a local anti gun ordinance changed. I was treated with condescension by some board members, insulted and ridiculed by other residents who attended those meetings including one gentleman who was outraged that I wasn't "man enough" to at least conceal my gun, had a contentious discussion about state law with the township lawyer (I am not an attorney) and won that discussion on purely legal grounds after which the attorney left in a huff and upon his leaving the township board vote changed the ordinance to bring it into line with state law.

So maybe YOU, and by YOU I mean all of us!, should be carrying into government buildings where it is legal to do so instead of allowing ourselves to be intimidated into not legally exercising the right to bear arms.

But there is a difference between what is legal and what your employer says is a condition of employment. It may be legal for non employees to carry where you work for example... a Wal Mart customer but your employer can say that if you for example...as a Wal Mart cashier carry a gun on the job you will get fired.

 

[BluesStringer]

I worked for a delivery service for several years that did a lot of cash business. I followed the no-guns rules through two different co-workers getting robbed, neither at gun-point because the robbers apparently knew the drivers would be unarmed. Neither of the drivers got hurt, except for maybe their pride, so though they were red flags to several of us, most (maybe all) of us continued to follow the rules.

The third robbery was different. The driver was sent to an address of an empty house. No lights on, but he got out of his truck anyway, and on his way to the front door was hit from behind with a cinder block. The robber(s?) were never caught. He was rendered unconscious in the first second of the attack, so no one knows if he was injured as bad as he was by that first strike, or if he was beaten more while he was unconscious, but he spent three weeks in ICU, one of which he was comatose. He eventually made a full recovery and returned to work, but weeks before that happened, myself and at least two other drivers that I knew of were carrying. I decided my life was more important than company rules. I ended up leaving that job shortly thereafter to go to work for Brink's driving/guarding armored trucks. The rules there mandated that I carry, so it all worked out in the end (for me at least).

The above neither advocates for or opposes the OP (or anyone else) making the same decision I made for myself. To each his own, but the fact is, I was not breaking any laws. The worst that could happen if I had to use my weapon or otherwise got caught carrying it, was I would've been canned, but I was already looking for another job where I could carry within the rules, so I didn't really care at that point. There were a bunch of other factors driving me to find another job anyway, change in management, firings with highly questionable justifications etc. I could've just as easily been canned for doing nothing wrong as for carrying a weapon that was against the rules. Everyone's got to weigh the pros and cons of any decision to carry, whether within or outside the rules of places you're going to be on a regular basis. I don't feel guilty at all for breaking the rules for the short time that I did, but others might, and that's fine with me. To each his own.

Blues

 

[snatale42]

Legal or not, most people, myself included, aren't going to go into a government building armed, whether it's federal, state, or municipal. Besides, just about all of them have metal detectors anyway.
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Well if it's Federal with very few exceptions you don't have a (legal) choice. As far as State and Municipal I don't understand the mindset of not carrying if you legally can. All common sense stuff aside like courtrooms and secure areas of Police Stations etc, if your in a state that doesn't cast a blanket law of making carry illegal simply because they own it, as a gun owner you should know where you can legally carry and then carry everywhere you legally can. I participate yearly in my states lobby day where we walk into the State house and walk right into the offices of the scumbags trying to take away our rights and demand to know why, 90% of people open carry during lobby day. Capital Police check our Permits at the door but it's legal so we do it.

 

[TrapperBob]

I work at a state university, and cannot carry outside my car. If I chose to do so, however, there's no way other than my telling about or showing the gun that anyone would know, there are no metal detectors or secure points anywhere. I follow the law and leave my gun in the car, specifically in a locked safe secured to the frame of my car when I'm at work. The locked safe isn't legally required, but I feel better about leaving a gun in a car with the safe.

 

[S&W645]

I would venture a guess that about 80% of employed persons in this country are prohibited by their employer from carrying a gun at work while on the clock. And the vast majority of those have no security in place at their place of employment. Think Wal Mart, for example.

That was the case of me working for an agency of the state. Until we had a Hurricane and again after 9/11. With the first, we were instructed that despite rules to contrary, to think about keeping one in our personal vehicles in the parking area by our Director. And our personal vehicles were declared by the governor's office to be " Official Emergency Vehicles " and not subject to being searched during the curfew days. Within two days we had a FL National Guardsman with a M-16 on site and instructed that if needed, grab it for our safety. He was there for night time protection but it was up to us to provide daytime security for ourselves. After 9/11, our headquarters got metal detectors & armed FLNG, and we got a county deputy at our site's gate. And a suggestion that there be a firearm in our personal vehicles. To get into our HQ main entrance, even pocket knives were banned. So we just used the side door that only those employees with controlled access could use and no metal detector there.