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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:02:22 PM EDT
I just started working for a consulting company. In their handbook under "prohibited actions" they list carrying firearms once, then list them again along with explosives and other dangerous materials.
The company is about 1500 people in a couple dozen offices around the world, mostly in the US. The corporate office has a couple floors in a building that has an evening security guard (I don't recall seeing him armed) and the building I work in they have one half of the 2nd floor off a state highway (2 lanes each way) and various construction going on in the immedate area. Not a rural area, more like a small town with a short strip mall or two and some fast food. Very close to a major interstate. They've got a company message board I was looking at and one conversation talked about the security guard not walking people to their cars after hours. One sheep actually said "Well thank god we've got our cell phones."  Like WTF? Then another posted something to the effect of: yeah it's just not safe out there these days no matter where you live.So I either have to suck it up, talk to them about it and probably have to then just suck it up when then tell me to pound sand or carry VERY discreetly and hope nobody catches me. I'm tempted to just carry, but this is the first full time job I've held in 2 years so screwing up is not really an option. Who else has to deal with crap like this and what do you do? |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:02:53 PM EDT
[#1]
I took a bunch of my coworkers to a shooting range.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:04:51 PM EDT
[#2]
Keep it in your car or briefcase.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:05:00 PM EDT
[#3]
Yes, my company has the same policy.
What do I do about it? Well........ I can't really say now can I ?    
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:12:13 PM EDT
[#4]
It's like Klintons gay policy: don't ask, don't tell.
my company has same, I figure one of two things will happen; 1) I will never have to use it, nobody's the wiser 2) I'll have to use it and I'll a) still be alive, get fired and couldn't give a *uck if I got fired, at least I'm alive. I will then sue the company for something. I'll pay a lawyer to think of a reason. b) I will still be alive, possibly help protect other coworkers and have them "look the other way" |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:18:08 PM EDT
[#5]
+1 My plan exactly. I have a desk with a locking drawer that only I have a key for. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:24:01 PM EDT
[#6]
Find something VERY compact, hide it on your person, still being accessible, and then SHUT UP!
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:25:10 PM EDT
[#7]
In the car doesn't do me any good for the walk to the car (which is probably my most vulnerable moment). I considered the briefcase, but am worried about leaving such a thing unattended.....but then that's why you have locking drawers. hmmmmm...... 
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:28:35 PM EDT
[#8]
+1 |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:33:29 PM EDT
[#9]
I wouldnt think of taking any of mine to work. I dont know of a safer place I could be our security guards are really good.
 Oh yea I work at a nuke plant.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:48:32 PM EDT
[#10]
My company has the same policy. I also have to travel to government sites/facilities that require I submit my vehicle to a K-9 search. Therefore, I don't tend to carry very often. I had a real "fun" time at one facility recently when the dog kept hitting all around my truck. I had to open everything up. Luckily, those particular guards where fairly cool about it (some are real slack jawed jack-asses) when I explained that I had been to the range the over the weekend and my truck had been packed with guns and ammo.
Remember, most companies reserve the right to search any desk, cabinet, briefcase, car etc. while it is on their property - just like they can legally monitor your email. If you "think" you have the only key to your company provided desk, think again. Most companies have copies of those keys. Just in case someone loses their key. You might give some consideration to carrying a less than leathal device (i.e. mace, knife). I know that doesn't provide the same protection as a gun, but the ramifications of being caught with those will be far less if not non-existant.If you do carry, you better be very discrete about it and never give cause to let someone suspect that you have a weapon on you. It's all about weighing the risks and if you are willing to deal with the consequences. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:54:04 PM EDT
[#11]
Their company, their rules.
A firearm is not the only weapon in the world, and self-defense is not limited to just carrying a firearm. Think outside the box. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 3:54:13 PM EDT
[#12]
In your case, I wouldn't carry. But my wife's company has the same policy. But it is essentially don't ask, don't tell.
They know certain people who are carrying including retired LEO's and they just don't say anything about it. My company is small enough that we don't have the rule. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:04:43 PM EDT
[#13]
Hand grenades? 
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:05:07 PM EDT
[#14]
+1 |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:18:21 PM EDT
[#15]
You're carrying a CONCEALED weapon. Keep it CONCEALED. If you're afraid of printing, get something small in an IWB holster, a J frame .38, Kahr PM, USP compact, Kel Tec, etc will disappear on just about ANYONE.
So, being concealed, the only way someone will find out is if you have to use it. In that case 1) you wont care if you lose youre job because youll be alive 2) you can sue the company for putting your life in danger with their policy. You are actually making the place safer because of carrying. Besides, when they wrote that policy, Im sure what they meant was no illegal weapons... My fiance's workplace has a no weapons policy. I go in there all the time, no one but her knows I carry. She doesnt pack (or does she  ?) , but for other reasons, and she will be soon. It really is nothing to worry about. Keep it concealed, dont tell anyone.It is not your company's obligation to keep your person safe, it is YOURS. You owe it to your family, friends and loved ones to make sure you get home at the end of the day. Don't let some BS policy prevent that from happening. edit: A defenseive firearm is NOT a WEAPON. It is NOT a DANGEROUS OBJECT. IT IS A RESCUE TOOL. Just like a fire extinguisher or a first aid kit, it allows you to take control of a situation until the professionals arrive. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:29:10 PM EDT
[#16]
I vote for keep it on you and make sure no one knows about it or sees it...unless it's your life or thiers. Your job won't matter if you're dead.
I used to work at a bank. I kept my pistol in my truck, only because I didn't have CCW. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be there either. (Although, I think the rule was just in the handbook for legal reasons. When armed customers came in and other customers complained it was brought up in a meeting. The executives decided that it was fine, no signs went up) Knives and less lethal were fine. Later I worked on a foreign trade zone. Wasn't supposed to have a weapon there, but I again kept my gun in my truck. I also kept a knife in my pocket. I was there less than 2 months after getting hired because I was afraid of getting searched. Where I am now, I can do almost whatever I want. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:35:52 PM EDT
[#17]
Great thing about working for my dad...he doesnt give a damn what I do with weapons, so long as it doesnt interfere with productivity or get me arrested. One of our guys got a .357 as a Christmas bonus.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:36:25 PM EDT
[#18]
Just carry and don't get caught if only against company policy.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 4:46:29 PM EDT
[#19]
I just ignore those silly rules. Nothing has ever happened to me, and all those people I've been working with for years have no idea.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:34:25 PM EDT
[#20]
Don't ask don't tell.
Don't tell being the operative part here. Those day planner holsters are great for taking my "tool" (it's not a weapon in my view unless I use it that way) out of my laptop case and into my drawer.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:40:10 PM EDT
[#21]
With crazies in the workplace who might shoot up the office, it's wise to carry discreetly.
Your boss will love you then.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:44:04 PM EDT
[#22]
Back when I used to work for other people, I never even asked what their policy was, and never told them I was carrying. If I needed the gun, I damned sure wouldn't have cared if I got fired for defending my life.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:47:26 PM EDT
[#23]
Who cares. They can't search you and you don't have to "give yourself up." Screw them. If something goes down, you probably wont want to work there anymore anyway!
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:50:52 PM EDT
[#24]
Can't carry at work....it's "company" policy at a funny-looking five-sided building on the shores of the Potomac. There, I don't really have to worry about security--the Pentagon Police take care of that for me. And, no, "just do it anyway" isn't really an option for me.
I keep it in my car, because the mass-transit methods I use to get to my car are fairly safe. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:55:28 PM EDT
[#25]
So what would happen if someone was caught with a gun at your "company"? |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:57:29 PM EDT
[#26]
Ignore it.
I do. SG |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 5:57:59 PM EDT
[#27]
In my little consulting company, all three of us carry .40 S&W's, that way, if the SHTF we can swap ammo
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Posted: 10/26/2004 6:01:41 PM EDT
[#28]
Depends a lot on how serious they are about it. Most of the time, it's just some insurance company rule or something, and nobody actually cares about keeping guns off of the property. So, you can just carry discretely, as normal, and nobody will notice.
Of course, if you're technically carrying against policy, you may want to watch what kind of conversations you get into. Long rants on RKBA could make people start asking questions you don't want asked. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 6:05:40 PM EDT
[#29]
Most major corporations have a policy prohibiting employees from carrying - with security being exempt with qualified training.
The insurance companies usually won;t insure the corporation unless thay have a policy prohibiting firearms. Also, there is some work place safety [maybe law?] (I cannot quote it now) that also encourages companies not to allow firearms. On the other hand, make friendly with the security staff. I made friends with the security chief on our campus. They know if the SHTF at work they could come to me for ummm.... well you know a little hardware. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 6:17:57 PM EDT
[#30]
My workplace has a weapons policy. Guns ARE allowed in locked cars. Many in management are conservative and are gun owners. There are about 800 employees here and 10,000 nationally, the nations largest steel producer. The CEO is a hunter and fisherman and collects Corvettes
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Posted: 10/26/2004 6:20:16 PM EDT
[#31]
I think my work has a simular policy but I haven't asked, I think I might have read the policy during the hireing proccess but I'm not %100 sure, I'de ask but I don't want to tip my hand should I decide to carry later, besides this way if I get caught I can play dumb....
However as a symbol of how much they trust us we have to walk through a metal detector on the way in (which might be a good hint what the company policy is....), but it goes off on almost everyone, probably because were required to where steel toed shoes (they make us where steel toad boots, then make us go through a metal detector, WTF....), the only time it doesn't go off is when someone doesn't where steel toes, so most of the time the gaurds just ignore it, it's extremely rare they say anything, and when they do a simple response of "steel toes", or "keys" will suffice, but every once in a while one will get a hair up there butt (actually they only seem to do this when your the only one to go through in ahwile, and I think they get board....) and use a Carrett type wand, and I really don't want to explain to them the reason theres a gun in my pocket.... |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:12:57 PM EDT
[#32]
tell 'em it's an airsoft display for your office. Leave a couple of those 6mm bb's in the barrel and just roll em out if they ask ETA: paint the tip of your barrel orange. 99.9% of the people you would come across would buy that I bet if the barrel was orange. I think I'm going to paint my snubbie barrel tip orange..... |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:30:45 PM EDT
[#33]
Be VERY careful about carrying at work. Much can go wrong.
IWB and you have to use the pot and it falls out on the bathroom floor. In your briefcase will be the day your friend thinks your briefcase is cool and wants to check it out. You coworkers will want a ride out to lunch in your car and want to check out the center console |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:30:50 PM EDT
[#34]
You should ask them what the limits of their indurance policy are in case someone comes into the place and starts shooting...since you're defenseless because of their policy, it's only fair that they compensate you or your loved ones should anything bad happen to you.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:33:56 PM EDT
[#35]
Nice touch. Better yet, tell them your wife wants to know, cuz if it happened she would be mad, and alive to follow through. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:36:33 PM EDT
[#36]
I do not know about VA law and if your right to protect yourself trumps some boiler-plate corporate handbook. Do they post it on/near the Front door?
Concealed-carry means concealed. What they don't know won't hurt them. The way I look at it, if they want to take away your right to protect yourself they need to take responsibility for protecting your life, just as if you were armed yourself (or better) -- limited access, metal detectors, armed security guards, ect. One of the reasons I do not object going into a courthouse/airport unarmed. I've worked for companies that had awesome security where I didn't feel the need to carry. I work for a company now that I wouldn't think of going into the office not being armed (2 blocks from a county hospital where they discharge the dregs of society....scum sleeping in front of my door... beggers walking up to you as you pull into the parking lot, other tenants leaving the main door unlocked all night). the management is totally unconcerned for safety and quite anti-gun. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 7:50:40 PM EDT
[#37]
I work at a power plant and we're not allowed to carry inside the gates We are allowed to have them in our cars, so if SHTF I'd have to make it to the parking lot to get it. I keep it in a Safe Packer in my truck. That way nobody knows what it is if they happen to see it and the neighbors don't think anything when I get home and carry it inside the house.
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Posted: 10/26/2004 8:00:05 PM EDT
[#38]
 Lays flat in your pocket. |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 8:39:18 PM EDT
[#39]
BTT after all that work to bring you this picture.
High Standard .22 Magnum |
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Posted: 10/26/2004 8:39:31 PM EDT
[#40]
I also work in the nuclear industry, and getting caught with a firearm on site would probably mean an end to your career. You'll probably never be allowed access to any other plant, ever. Even befroe 9/11, anyone trying to attack the plant has a death wish, but I'd still like to carry at least to and from work.
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Posted: 10/27/2004 1:57:22 AM EDT
[#41]
And a very nice picture it is. 
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Posted: 10/27/2004 2:02:59 AM EDT
[#42]
Neither HQ or the office I'm in have postings. This is two specific instances in the employee handbook that mention that carrying firearms and 'other dangerous devices' are prohibited actions. The building I'm in isn't secure or guarded (that I've seen yet). The actual office space has card readers for access. As for 'alternative means' of defense, anyone know what the nastiest personal defense spray is? |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 2:10:04 AM EDT
[#43]
Small framed snubby .357 in my waist band.
The place I work for has the same policy, no guns. |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 2:12:11 AM EDT
[#44]
I leave the gun in the car, carry the knife.
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Posted: 10/27/2004 3:58:12 AM EDT
[#45]
1. Buy small, easily concealed gun (Like one of the small Smith J frames) 2. Carry small handgun in a deeply concealed fashion, so that won't EVER be seen 3. Don't tell anybody about steps one and two. Weapons in your car can be stolen and are not handy in the least. Weapons in your briefcase can fall OUT of said briefcase at the wrong moment. A good reliable compact handgun, a good pocket holster, and the right clothing selections will enable you to carry discretely and safely, and yet still have ready access to a weapon if you need to. Should you ever need to use the weapon, getting fired will be the least of your worries. This advice all applies to places where you don't have to pass through intense security and metal detectors. If you work at that funny looking five sided building, then you leave the roscoe at home. If, like the majority of us, you work in a place that doesn't have all those means of enforcement like you would find at a courthouse or the Pentagon, then carry discreetely and don't tell anyone. Odds are that if your workplace has a rule against firearms, then the rules also apply to mace, knives, and anything else that can apply to a weapon. You will probably get just as fired for mace as for a .38, so remember that. Whatever you carry for defense, do so in absolute secrecy. |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 4:04:04 AM EDT
[#46]
Mace has it right: "discreetly." Concealed means concealed, which also includes keeping your mouth shut. How do you like feeling like a criminal, even when doing all the legal mumbo-jumbo? Another reason my concealed weapon is for my wife and myself. A lot of places have "no-weapons" policies. What's a "policy?" Something some self-important chair polisher dreams up. So, I'll protect my wife or myself. Anyone else getting their heads cut off by a beloved low-life? I'll do my civic duty and call 911.
If you have to use your weapon under those circumstances, yes, start suing. Obviously, their security does not work, and put you at risk. The attack proves it. Did I mention that you should keep your mouth shut? |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 4:08:27 AM EDT
[#47]
I do not even think I am supposed to have my pocket knife. but I do. I can't carry a gun anyway because even though I live in the wonderfulness that is Virginia, I work in Maryland.
Yes, I am looking for another job. |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 4:13:19 AM EDT
[#48]
You MUST be in occupied Northern Virginia right? My Company has the same thing. Not much you can do about it. This place is too proud of their "Top 100 Family Friendly Company" status to change the policy, regardless of the state laws. There are probably 1/2 dozen folks in my office who shoot on a fairly regular basis and the discussion has come up more than once  |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 4:33:23 AM EDT
[#49]
First, you get the joy of being put at "a position of disadvantage" by a large number of overweight cops with MP5s, if they don't just shoot you outright. Then, a ride to the lovely and posh federal courthouse/detention facility in Alexandria, followed by a speedy trial and jail time. No, it's not worth it. |
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Posted: 10/27/2004 4:34:40 AM EDT
[#50]
Same policy where I work. I think we're not supposed to have guns in our cars either, but I say screw that. I have to drive through a not-so-great neighborhood to get to work, and I refuse to do that without a gun in the car. Knives are okay in the building, though, so I carry a good knife at work, and no one says a thing.
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