Another workplace slaughter prompts the following question;

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At last report 30 or more people have been gunned down, I'd be willing to bet company policy forbade having a gun at work, and thus none of the victims had a chance to defend themselves.

Should employees who want to carry a firearm at work be allowed to do so?

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeeD@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001

Answers

Yes, if licensed.

BTW whatever happened to the guy in suburban Boston who shot up the office less than a year ago?

Today's shooting occured in Goshen IN, northern IN Mennonite country.

-- (lars@indy.net), December 06, 2001.


UNK:

One question: This was in Indiana; where is Lars? ;o).

On a more serious note, No. We are not Afghanistan; at least outside of Florida.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 06, 2001.


The massacre at Luby's in Waco years ago led Texas to change its concealed weapon laws. Wonder what impact this latest incident will have?

(CNN) -- Police are searching for a gunman who opened fire Thursday afternoon at an industrial park in northern Indiana, wounding dozens.

A police dispatcher contacted by CNN described the shooting spree as a "mass shooting" but had no details.

Sheriff's Capt. Julie Dijkstra told The Associated Press a former employee at the Nu-Wood simulated wood factory was believed to be responsible. The gunman may still be in the building, she said.

Mayor Allan Kauffman said he heard as many as 35 people had been shot, but he was not able to confirm that.

"At last word, the scene was still unsecure," Kauffman said, noting the shooter may still be inside.

The dispatcher said police were alerted to the shooting at Nu-Wood Decorative Millwork, a vinyl siding factory, at 2:31 p.m. She also said there were no fatalities immediately reported.

Local television aerial pictures of the scene showed ambulances lined up in a parking lot at the industrial park.

Kauffman said the industrial park houses several manufacturing plants and employs thousands of people.

Goshen is a town of about 29,000 people 100 miles west of Chicago.

-- Pammy (pamela_sue57@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.


OK Unk:

I'se looked her up. Now, I live in the state that produced most of the western heros [outlaws and defenders of liberty alike]. They did this hero stuff further west for the most part. ;o)

I live in a rural area but refer to the laws in the nearby town. In 1825, they passed a law requiring anyone entering the town to surrender their weapons to the sheriff [even knives]. It has worked for sometime. I see no reason to change it. Outside of town, open carry is legal.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 06, 2001.


"Should employees who want to carry a firearm at work be allowed to do so?"

It might make for a more polite workplace. Possibly.

Just a reminder, everyone: Guns don't kill people. Traumatic tissue damage and catastrophic blood loss kill people. So be careful where you point that thing, OK?

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), December 06, 2001.



Discharging his anger USAToday 12/06/01

VANCOUVER, Wash. — James Craig Wilson planned to spend the afternoon decorating for the holidays. Instead, upset by mishaps with his outdoor Christmas lights, he grabbed his .45-caliber pistol and began firing into the ground behind his suburban home. He ended up in the Clark County Jail for investigation of reckless endangerment. "I thought discharging my gun would help me discharge my anger," Wilson said. "I guess I'm going to lose my concealed weapons permit."

And there you have it folks!

-- (cin@cin.cin), December 06, 2001.


One thing to remember is that having a gun and even being fully trained in its use does not actually guarantee that the person using it would be able to use it calmly under a pressure-filled situation such as this one. It's just as possible that a bunch of people with guns could start a big shootout in an attempt to subdue the gunman and cause even more deaths than what happened originally.

-- (what@i.think), December 06, 2001.

Gun ownership doesn't mean the owner knows squat about gunfighting. Most or all of my coworkers seem to be nice enough folks, but I wouldn't trust my life to their judgement and abilities should someone open fire on us. I include myself in this assessment. Target practice isn't the same as shoot/don't shoot training.

-- helen (city@living.better?), December 07, 2001.

The massacre at Luby's in Waco years ago led Texas to change its concealed weapon laws. Wonder what impact this latest incident will have?

Actually, Pammy, there are still many places here that have signs stating "No firearms beyond this point" or "Check firearms before entering."

I agree with you, Helen. Put a gun in my hand and I'd no doubt shoot at the first thing that moved in a crisis situation. Actually there was a deer hunter this week who did just that. He was tracking a deer, saw movement, and shot a woman in the head who was walking her dogs on a gravel road. She's dead, but the blame was on her. I guess folks are supposed to always wear bright orange during hunting season.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.


Castrate me if I'm wrong but, I think that before Luby's, Texas had a law against gun packing. One woman in the restaurant had a gun in her car but did not bring it inside because of the illegality. She had to sit passively and wait to he executed. She was spared but her parents were not.

After Luby's it was her efforts that led to the law being changed.

-- (lars@indy.net), December 07, 2001.



I don't know about the Texas gun laws BEFORE the Luby incident, Lars, but even current laws don't make it easy for one to have the required permit to carry concealed weapons. Luby was 10 years ago.

Texas law now

It might be that she wasn't authorized at the time to carry a concealed weapon. I dunno. I DO know that she turned into a Congresscritter.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.


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