I was trying hard to stay out of this conversation but it seems that snide comments and petty remarks have been tossed around.
Stump Jumper, I went and read the regulation and I, as a volunteer EMT am VERY disappointed that they took this out of our rules and regulations and
I will, tomorrow morning, be writing a letter to my EMS agency urging them to put that rule back in and to enforce it.
We are rescue workers and we have the police for a reason.
If we feel we are in danger there is a small red button on our two way radio's for a reason.
We are there to save lives, we are there to harm none and to do our job. If I knew my partner had a gun, I don't care who you are, I would refuse to be on that rig with you and request another partner. I don't need to walk into a stressful situation and have it come potentially worse or fatal if that person realizes that you have a gun.
I wasn't taught to take a life, I was taught to SAVE ONE.
What you do on your own time and off duty, be it paid or volunteer is your business.
I have met way too many wanna be fire fighters and EMT's who can't even function when it matters, who have to try to prove something,
why in the world would I want them to have a fire arm?
Way too many wanna be's who are gung ho saving that burning building, or showing attitude or racing to see who is first on the scene. There has only been one person that I would ever feel safe around with a fire arm on a scene and that was
my assistant chief who was a police officer
and went to the range often. I never felt uneasy with him and believe me, I spent enough time with him. He was always very professional on and off the scene and conducted himself as one of his rank should.
This is only my personal opinion. I was raised that if I can't say anything constructively or without malice, then to not say anything at all. So to call someone a "mall ninja" when I am sure what he does is just as important as what you do or he is just as proud of what he is trained to do, that was rather a nasty thing to say.