Florida Hospital Carry

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

Neil442

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
6
Location
Florida
Although I cannot find any reference to it in the Florida statutes, I read on another forum that it is illegal for CCW permit holders to carry in a hospital IF the facility has an area devoted to mental health treatment. My wife was recently in for a routine surgery & I carried, as always, during visits. Am now wondering if this constituted a violation. Your thoughts?
 
Info not clear

I'm a ccw holder living in Florida also. Recently I had to go to the hospital to visit a relative. I looked for info in the literature that was given to me when I got my license, but was not able to get a real answer. Maybe next time I'll call the Sheriff's office . . . maybe they would know.
 
Except as authorized by law.......

Isn't it true that FL allows ccw with a permit EXCEPT in the places listed in section 790?
 
Check the medical center's website or contact the patient rep's office

I'd go online and see if the hospital or medical center posts any formal policy. If they have uniformed security officers and/or a public safety office they can assist you too.

I know you can't carry weapons or firearms on federal/VA property, :rolleyes:. I would not even ask the VA police at my local VAMC. The 083 officers there are total a-holes and have such distain for veterans and/or family members it's a real shame. :cuss:

Rusty

PS: I hope your wife get better and is treated well.
 
Neil, I hope your wife recovers quickly.


Those links suggest its a grey area that hasn't been fully tested in Florida case law yet.

If you did it, and got away with it, no harm=no foul. Don't lose any sleep over it.

If you have to go back, make whatever decision you feel comfortable about it. If you do decide to return while carrying your firearm, make sure no one discusses it while you're there.

I've had to make 2 trips to the ER myself. I went armed, sick as hell and all.

Hospitals are bad places for potential problems. Sick, injured, and old people make for easy victims in the parking decks. Often both the losers and the winners of fights end up in the ER. Hopefully the fight is over by the time they arrive. And hopefully the loser's buddies aren't waiting outside for him to be discharged to finish the job. Prisoners and those under arrest are taken to the hospital to have wounds treated. Its not uncommon for those persons to take advantage of an opportunity to attempt an escape. Drunks, druggies, and the homeless get their "routine check-ups" at the hospital.

Hospitals employ a lot of people. Its a very stressful job, and its tough on marriages. The spouses of health care workers often resent that the job takes time away from their families. Last year a woman was shot in front of the local hospital by her estranged husband, in broad daylight, with lots of folks around.


There's a lot that can go wrong at a hospital. I won't go into one unarmed, even when I'm sick as hell from the disease.
 
Ken, upon discovery of the firearm (prior to X-ray for example), what is your expectation of the storage of the gun during the procedure?
 
That depends.

If I'm unconscious upon arrival, and my wife's not there, I guess I'll get it back from hospital security one way or the other. That's actually not an uncommon occurance here in my area.

If I'm conscious and my wife's there, I usually give it to her for safekeeping. That's among the reasons why she got her permit, too. She can take custody of my guns and take them places without breaking the law.

If I'm alone, I have a lime green organizer bag that I just put the gun, reloads, knife and light into and carry it around with me. No one really looks twice at a guy in a gown carrying around an organizer bag.

But I never got discovered in an ER. I usually had time to disrobe and gown up before my X-rays and other procedures, and I was given privacy to do that.


But I did have to get an outpatient procedure done not long ago, and I didn't really have the privacy I needed to disrobe. I was in a women's health wing, for a scan that usually women have done. They had no segregated changing area. So after 5 minutes of the technician telling me, "Sorry, we'll just have to wait a few more minutes, another woman just went in the changing room." I said, "Hell, I can just change here in the imaging room." She didn't really pay any attention to the guns I laid on the chair. She looked a bit uncomfortable as I dropped my trousers, but it was more over having a strange man disrobe right in front of her without warning or asking her to leave. "But I don't even have gowns for you in here," she says.

I lightened up the mood by saying, "It's OK honey. I'm wearing boxers. And if I thought my dignity still mattered, I would have given up treating the disease. I've had hoses stuck up my butt by pretty little GI nurses, and experienced all other sorts of indignities. You're a medical professional. I don't have anything you haven't seen before. I think you and I can handle this one." :D

She giggled, I smiled and gave her a wink, and life went on.
 
That pretty much is what I advocate, but what about the lime green bag: if you are having 5 or 6 X-rays in the room, where do you leave the bag?
The reason I am asking about this is because of things that happened in South Africa, and advice I have been drawing up for the South African radiographer (which I will post after you tell me about the lime green bag, if you wish to disclose what you think should happen with the bag while you are being X-rayed).
 
if you are having 5 or 6 X-rays in the room, where do you leave the bag?
Click to expand...

Take it into the X-Ray room with you. There is no danger to the firearm or X-Ray machine. This also holds true for CT, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine.

Do NOT Bring the firearm with you into a MRI. There has been at least one AD (Not an ND) with a handgun in a MRI suite. You might also break the magnet with is $100,000 + :what:

Also do not worry about Tritium sights in a Nuc Med department.

I work in a radiology dept and this is not an uncommon occurence.

NukemJim
 
Well Odd Job, for me anyway:

If they stress that I need to remove anything metal, like rings, or are really strenuous and thorough about making sure I don't have anything metal implanted, I know enough to leave my items outside the room. I know the difference between, "you're getting an X-ray, or a CT scan", and "you're getting an MRI".

When that happens I'm generally given the opportunity to go someplace to disrobe, and am offered a locker to put personal effects in. Every imaging center I've been to so far had keyed lockers, and so have most hospitals. If not, I've asked for a lock, or kindly said to them I'm not comfortable leaving my belongings unattended and unlocked. I've never had someone think that an unreasonable request.


Otherwise, I just carry my effects around with me, and look to set it someplace like on a chair when I'm on the scanning table. But usually by that point the kind nurse offers to hold onto my bag of clothing and other effects. I'll either decide to hand it over, and trust that the nurse will mind his or her business and stay out of my belongings. Or based on the interaction I won't, and politely decline the offer.


Its never been rocket science. Politeness and tact goes a long way. And I've never had a problem asking to have accomodations to lock up belongings. I've never made a big deal out of it, or drawn attention to needing to have this bag up. A lot of this is really how you carry yourself. And when I'm sick or in pain, the staff try to be accomodating.
 
That makes sense also.

Edit: deleted, because of thread meandering/hijack. I can make a new thread.
 
Bullfrog: I agree with you. Be courteous, move things around as needed & watch out for the MRI's. Sometimes life calls for practical.

My wife is much better. Thanks for asking.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top