Q&A of the day – About active shootings in the work place
It’s the Q&A of the day. Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Twitter: @brianmuddradio
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Today’s note comes from Skip:
Listening to you this am about the active shooter topic, especially at your place of work. I am the security supervisor for (edited to protect his identity). You are correct in your ideas that the employers ARE in fact liable for the safety of their employees. This hospital literally has no visiting hours. We are to let people into the hospital at all hours of the night, when in reality it should be closed to the public. We have no idea who we are letting in or where they are really going. The ER staff is scared to death. People are more violent, especially since we also handle any psych patients that come in. No tolerance anymore. I took a full blown punch in the face that was meant for our ER charge nurse, psych patient, and he is still in jail 3 weeks later. NO active shooter training for anyone. The hospital wants to remain "community friendly".
It is beyond not safe to work there. I got lots of training from Delray PD, but that only goes so far when they do not allow security to arm themselves...just sayin...you are CORRECT...thanks Skip
Bottom Line: The execution style shooting at Sun Trust in Sebring brought about the latest reminder that...
A) Active shooter training is a chilling thought but sadly relevant in today’s world
B) Once again, we had defenseless victims
I’ve cited the stats about defensive use of firearms more times than I can remember at this point and yet it’s the same old same old in these situations. A quick refresher for those who might not recall...Between 1.5 million to 2.5 million successful defensive uses of firearms occur every year in the United States as studied by the Federal Government and University research including Florida State University. Research shows that the average concealed carry permit holder is 50% less likely to ever commit a crime than a non-gun owner. Yet who has society conditioned you to fear more?
Ignorance and fear far too often win out over pragmatism and facts. It might not be the most pleasant thought that it takes a good person with a gun to stop a bad person with a gun but wake the heck up already! What do you think happens when no one is armed and someone bent on evil starts firing? You’re hard pressed to find a bigger advocate of businesses small and large than me but what many are doing is wrong on every level. It’s indefensible that a business, institution or organization not provide adequate security or allow their employees to legally defend themselves in an emergency. Consider the facts I’ve already shared with you and then consider that...
A) You’ve hired an employee that clearly you trust to be within your organization
B) If they carry, they’ve been trusted to do so by the federal and state governments
So, you have someone who’s statistically 50% less likely to ever commit a crime than your average other employee that qualified to carry and was vetted by multiple governments, but you deny them the opportunity to protect themselves and perhaps others? Skip’s example is especially absurd. He heads security for a hospital and he’s not allowed to be armed? That’s absurd beyond description.
There are two sides to stories but one side to facts. There are no facts supporting any business, institution or organization that choose to not provide security but also demand that their employees who’re legally able and capable not be able to defend themselves either.