Is your work area too dangerous for you to have a gun on you?

[Mike J]

I am a sheet metal worker. Most of what we do is install sheet metal ductwork & set HVAC units on commercial job sites. I don't carry at work. We are constantly climbing up & down ladders, grinding & cutting, often crawling in & out of tight places. It just isn't practical. I have also worked on military bases & I'm not going to risk getting into that kind of trouble just to have a gun with me. I was actually worried about the time I had spilled some .22LR in the truck & cleaned under the seat again just to be sure.

 

[jman74]

Electrical work around high voltage or with large arc flash current potential. You generally want to avoid having metal, much less a loaded gun, on your person for both.

Yes, live switchgear and anything metal do not get along. Tough to carry concealed while wearing a full body harness while working on a tower 200ft in the air as well.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

with responsible firearms handling, I cannot think of a single normal work situation where that would apply

I think we have safely established to orionengnr that he obviously has no clue about hard working and dangerous work environments.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Nude art model?

=P

 

[Down South]

Can't carry where I work. Company policy. It is restricted access though.

 

[wyohome]

No one has ever said anything about it here, although it may be in the company policy. I am here with one other guy and my weapon is in my personal pickup, unlocked, in the parking lot. There are weapons of various types in here most of the time. Except for shooting a deer during the season, or showing off a new weapon, there is really no reason to have one on your person here, although some guys do. I just don't feel like packing one around while on this job.

 

[joed]

If I could get a ccw in my county, I would do it in a heartbeat. I'm a housing inspector and go into mostly inner city houses. I've had a gun pulled on me twice and a knife pulled on me once. Its getting to the point where wanting to carry is not a want, but a need.

I am seriously beside myself reading your post. Maybe, just maybe if you knew what the hell you were doing you would carry some type of protection.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I am seriously beside myself reading your post. Maybe, just maybe if you knew what the hell you were doing you would carry some type of protection.

Huh? What about his post implied he didn't know what he was doing? I did read where he said he would carry if it wasn't illegal, but not that he doesn't know what he's doing.

 

[Formula94]

I go to the U of MN and so long as you are employed or a student of the U it is against policy to carry. That is only in their conduct manual so if I were a regular citizen going to lunch or meeting with someone I could carry. In MN businesses cannot ban you from having a weapon in the parking lot or outside the building, just so long as you don't bring it inside.

 

[joed]

Huh? What about his post implied he didn't know what he was doing? I did read where he said he would carry if it wasn't illegal, but not that he doesn't know what he's doing.

Nothing personal really, but he posted the same thing on one of my posts almost word for word.

If I were in danger I would carry regardless, and I have.

 

[hso]

The guy asked about jobs where it was too dangerous to carry and we've gotten a lot of good examples.

For anyone that cares, hso stands for Health & Safety Officer. IOW I spent a lot of time inside areas that were contaminated with lots of nasty stuff with lots of dangerous equipment. Certainly not your average job, but I've seen plenty of work where having anything on you made the job more dangerous due to snagging, arc, spark or impact.

As pointed out, most "normal" jobs are not made dangerous by carrying, but plenty of us don't do "normal" things for our jobs.

 

[essayons21]

For the past 3 years I worked on a complex which was part of, and owned by, a major international airport, but leased to the state and federal government. It was separate from the commercial terminal, so I didn't run afoul of that prohibition, but there wasn't really any delineation between the federal and state portions of the complex, and over the course of the day I ended up all over the place.

Also, if any ne'er-do-wells knew what agencies and units were based from that complex it would be a major target.

The primary aspect of my job was something similar to hso's but if I ever had to actually DO my job this country would be seriously screwed.

A secondary aspect of my job was security of the complex, and I ended up being the primary person who allowed visitors access and escorted them around the complex, but I was not authorized to be armed. There were some folks who worked near the backside of the base who habitually went armed, but they did not have any responsibility for security or escort... makes sense right?

Airport police technically were the primary security, but they never came to our side of the airport.

Anyway, I ended up not carrying on my person, but I would have a firearm in the vehicle I used when working the gate and escorting visitors. I am still not sure of the legality of that, I am pretty sure I was in the clear as I generally did not go into buildings directly owned or operated by the federal government. I also wasn't the only member of my element that did the same thing. I'm pretty sure my bosses wouldn't have cared, I'm pretty sure one of them also kept a gun in his car, but if any of the federal employees knew I was armed it could have caused some trouble.

Its all a moot point now as my orders ran out, the unit I worked for moved, and I decided to move on to other things. However, it was a good example of a job that was too dangerous to carry if I was worried about job security, but I felt it was also too dangerous not to carry if I was worried about personal and base security.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Tough to carry concealed while wearing a full body harness while working on a tower 200ft in the air as well.

You just need a holster with better retention.

 

[Robbins290]

i have too leave my gun in my truck cause i work in a welding shop! guns and sparks dont mix too well.

 

[jojo200517]

My companies policy doesn't allow carry of firearms on company property.

As far as it being too dangerous tho if it were to be allowed? I don't think it would be a real danger to me at least not as much as damaging to the firearms. I work in a metal fabrication factory making car parts, stamping sheetmetal, spot welding sub assemblies, weld nuts and studs, grinding down rough welds etc. I end up working all over the place. I can't imagine all of the metal dust I'd get in it would do it well when I grind, its already killed my cell phone. Slipping and falling on it would hurt so I guess that would be a danger to me. If I get hit by a 50k-75k lb stamping die swinging on the overhead hoist I got bigger problems than it hitting my gun. On the other hand them or the coils of metal would be most excellent to hide behind if projectiles smaller than howitzer size started flying.

I have to say tho that if company policy did allow me to carry, I would probably carry but i'd leave it in my bag.

 

[bigdogpete]

Darn state will not let me stand in front of students with a gun.

bigdog

 

[conrad427]

as a self employed farmer/rancher i carry anytime i want to. Having said that i understand why others dont but also think that excuses are easy to come up with seeing how annoying ccw can be. When i respond to a fire or a car crash i leave the gun in the pickup and leave the holster on the shelf above my turnouts. A handgun underneath your bunker gear would be deep cover though! So i suppose volunteer firefighting is one situation i can think of.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

I alternate work between my home office and an access restricted advanced R&D campus. You don't have an access card, you can't get in. Company policy forbids firearms on the premises and there is virtually no need to have them under the circumstances. This is a condition "white" environment.

At all other times, you betcha.

Yeah, until the creepy guy that works in the corner cubicle and doesn't talk to anyone brings a rifle to work.

Nothing personal really, but he posted the same thing on one of my posts almost word for word.

If I were in danger I would carry regardless, and I have.

Hehehe, that sounds like the opposite of "nothing personal", actually. Seems you're still butthurt from his post and decided to follow him in here and get a jab in.

 

[mortablunt]

If I could carry and get away with, then I undoubtedly would. Seeing as a recently was hired as a salesman for Cutco, that day might not be too far off.
As I've humorously described the job, I'm going around to people's homes, carrying sharp objects and asking if they'd like to purchase something from me.

 

[longspurr]

At work the HSO sits across the aisle from me. Working in a Class 1 Div 1 chemical enviroment means NO source of ignition allowed. If things went bad and you discharged a firearm, the reality of the Big Bang theory would be immediately understood.

 

[garyhan]

Working as a therapist on a locked psychiatric ward, the danger of a snatch is far too great to carry (even if I could). One never knows for sure how many patients might join in the struggle (on either side).

gary

 

[Buck Kramer]

I disconnect, and collect for utilities for a living so you can imagine what kind of neighborhoods I go into so I carry a BG 380. I know Iowa doesn't seem too "hood" but the town I live in has had 2 murders and several shootings all within a square mile of downtown and another murder outside the downtown area. I'm crawling through bushes, and backyards all day and up and down 30' ladders, doesn't seem to bother me.

 

[Jeff White]

I lock mine in a locker that is there for that purpose before I go into the jail. The jail, mental health facilities and prisons my job requires me to visit are all too dangerous to carry weapons in.

 

[sc1911cwp]

I work in a hospital. I'd lose my professional license, lose my job, break state law, lose my CWP and probably lose my career. No, I don't carry at work. Funny thing though. About a third of the people I work with have CWPs.