Guns in the Worplace
Guns in the Workplace
Having worked in a bank for the three years, people always ask me if I feel safe at work. My response would normally be yes, I do. However, one day, after one of our branches were robbed, my response and feelings changed. Being trained in what to do in case of a robbery is only helpful in hypothetical cases. But what if the robber pulls a gun and you are not able to contact the police? How would this situation be handled then? Would I feel safer if one or more of my co-workers were able to carry a concealed gun at the workplace? Would being armed in this type of scenario escalate the situation or be a solution?
According to the Society of Human Resources Management writer and editor, Steven Bates, human resource professionals “are caught in a legal crossfire between the need to maintain safe workplaces and the right of employees to possess firearms” (Bates, 2014). As of October 2014, 22 states have passed laws that allow people to keep guns in their vehicles in the employers’ parking lots. However, having their guns in their car is not enough to be able to protect other civilians from what may occur inside the building. Even though these laws have been passed in said states, the laws are not well defined, and employers are trying to identify the parameters of actions the employer’s human resource department should take or could take. These laws need to be clarified, and companies need to take advantage of these laws to make their workplace a safer environment, not only for the employees, but for their customers.
The legal option of allowing employees to carry guns at work has not been given the spotlight it deserves, in response to the events that have lead us to be fearful, such as mass shootings that have occurred at office buildings and schools. Human resource executives have been doing a poor job of identifying issues like these that could arise at their workplace and have neglected to implement any kind of action that could prevent these tragedies.
After talking about Daniel Polsby’s view on guns, I feel he would agree that guns need to be allowed in workplaces. Polsby feels that guns need to be easier to access and that more people should be carrying guns to deter criminals from committing violent crimes. Polsby says that gun ownership should not be restricted and that being able to possess a firearm is a given human right that should not be taken away or restricted.
Michael Stefansen, an engineer at a company near the Sandy Hook Elementary School, said he felt “vulnerable” when there were reports of a second gunman that put his company in lockdown after the shooting inside the school. Stefansen also said that these laws trying to ban guns in the workplace “[don’t] make sense because the only people who are going to follow [them] are law-abiding people. Criminals aren’t” (White, 2013). I feel Polsby would agree with Stefansen because Polsby thinks that, if there is a higher likelihood of retaliation from a civilian, the criminal is less likely to commit a violent crime. I also agree with Stefansen, because, if I wanted to rob a bank, I would choose to do so in a state that I know hasn’t passed the law to allow an employee to carry a gun on their person. Choosing this state makes me feel like I have better chances of performing a successful robbery than I would if I were to go to a state that does allow employees to carry.
In 1998, a man tried to rob a restaurant in Arizona and opened fire. The man fired two rounds before being shot three times by an off-duty police officer who was carrying a firearm. The shooter’s brother said that what the officer did was right: “…It immediately ended the threat he was causing to those innocent people”. The brother, Kevin Michalowski, Executive Editor at Concealed Carry Magazine, carries his gun to work every day. He also carries it to the store and to his kids’ school. He says that, where there is a “no guns allowed” sign, there are vulnerable workers and innocent people. He says that those employees are “…targets. They’re sitting ducks. They have no way to defend themselves”.
Dudley Brown, an Executive Vice President of the National Association for Gun Rights says that a gun is just another tool for an employee in their daily job duties. He emphasizes a scenario where a person may not be able to receive immediate help from law enforcement while doing work in a rural area. It would be safer for this employee to carry a gun so that this person can have peace of mind in case they were to encounter some sort of conflict with a criminal.
On the opposing side of