Suspended from work for mentioning an AK47 on a date

[BlackHand1917]

Wow, sounds like a church that is somewhat harsh and jugdmental. I sometimes think that churches providing psychotherapy services might be getting away from the really important stuff they do. Oh, sure, Pastors should have the name of a good Christian therapist on their rolodex, but beyond that.....

 

[flrfh213]

i understand... i just casualy mentioned to my superviser in a conversation about hunting and self defense i recieved my cfl and i all but lost my county job... still trying to keep it....

 

[TheFallGuy]

I've always found it best to avoid talking about firearms unless I know the person as FRIEND, not just a coworker. I try to keep work and friends separate to avoid character issues from coming up and preventing me from advancement, etc. In your situation I don't think there is anything you could have done to avoid it. I feel for you.

We as christians aren't supposed to judge but we do. Anybody that says any different is lying flat out.

I am lucky to belong to a church with a lot of sportsmen whom I frequently shoot trap with and talk about hunting. I keep my AR and SKS a secret from those shooters though to avoid judgement and keep a low profile. I like the appearance of being a clean cut sportsman. Makes it easier to blend.

 

[jakemccoy]

I can't talk about my guns with any colleague who has a similar job to mine. Most people in my line of work are squeamish, anal and nosy, even if they pretend like they're not. I just can't risk talking with an anti-gun, squeamish attorney.

 

[jakemccoy]

Yeah, I learned this one too. One of my roommates has been in the Navy for a year now, and he would have never shot a gun if it weren't for me. He's a really nice guy, but a bit of a "momma's boy" if you will. His dad was a police officer and apparently didn't like guns, only had his duty gun, and never took his family shooting. When I talked about moving in, I told him I had guns and they'd be in the house. He talked to his mom about the issue (She lives in MD and we live in FL) and requested that I have locking cases for my guns. I said, sure, my cases are lockable. Then when I moved in, he told me to store the ammo in a different place than the guns. This was when I had to take a stand. He had shot my guns before; I mentioned that we both were 22 years old and knew how to operate them. There aren't any kids in the house nor do we know anyone with kids. Guns don't go off by themselves, and putting them in the same room as their ammo is not inherently dangerous. A few months later I got my 1911, and a safe, which apparently made him feel a whole lot better. Yet he didn't comment on our other roommate keeping his loaded Beretta in a drawer.

Yesterday I came home with my Saiga 12 and the 12 round mag for it. Both my roommates looked at me funny, and then the one guy said "*** do you need 12 rounds for in a shotgun?" My reply, "I don't, but why not have 'em?" Then he proceeded to lecture me on how his Beretta 92 in .40SW loaded with FMJ would be more deadly than my Saiga with 00 buck. He had been drinking so I'll assume it was the alcohol talking.

You're screwed if you ever have to use your guns for home defense. Your roommates would make terrible witnesses and would do you in. I'd find new roommates. Meanwhile, I'd become an expert on the laws related to using a gun.

 

[ArthurDent]

Matheath,

I am so sorry about your situation

I don't think that the suspension is because of the guns. I think the suspension is because of the report that she made on you. For whatever reasons (and we do NOT know her reasons!) she decided to file a complaint that you were not a suitable church worker. The church can NOT ignore that.

Unfortunately, this becomes a he said/she said situation, and there is no real way for them to establish the truth. Hopefully they will exercise some discernment, and look at your record and accomplishments. However, churches are so "gun-shy" these days that they are likely to err on the side of "caution" and dismiss you. In a time when you have to have extensive background checks by LE agencies to do virtually ANY volunteer work at a church, I doubt that they would dare to side with you.

As I see it, you have two huge problems. First of all, if the church lets you go because of this complaint, that is a black mark on your record, and it may be difficult to get a job in the future because of it. Secondly, you have this woman who has attempted to destroy your career. There is a good chance that she will attempt to do this again at your future jobs.

For these two reasons, I would attempt to have a favorable outcome to this scenario. At the least, I would aim for a "no-fault" separation. I doubt that any meetings with the woman would be productive, and any attempts would probably inflame the situation and probably severely hurt your case in any possible, future court battles.

I guess my best advice would be to keep seeking and following the best legal advice you can afford. We are potentially talking about your career here.

I would love to hear of a positive outcome here, but it may be in your best interest to not report any more of this issue publicly. Again, ask your lawyer.

I wish you the best

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Umm... usually the people who go crazy are just weird, not necessarily obsessed with firearms. The Va Tech shooter didn't buy his guns until a couple weeks before IIRC.

Actually, he was apparently obsessed with his guns even though he was a recent purchaser. He purchases were not 2 weeks beforehand, but 1 and 2 months beforehand.

I think that if you take the time to look at many of the mass murder shooters, they do have considerable gun interests. Kleibold and Harris come to mine.

Think about it this way. Dude is dating a chick with a military background. One would assume that most people in the military are familiar with guns and enjoy shooting them. Generally this is the case. However, some people in the military are against civilians owning guns, and some people in the military are against guns in general. I would argue that these people are in the wrong profession, but they exist nonetheless. So if you were overall not thrilled with guns, and some guy mentioned that he had an AK in trunk, would you be weirded out? Probably. OP is a shooting enthusiast, and wanted to see if the girl, being ex-military, enjoyed it as well. Unfortunately, it didn't go over well. The OP's church is apparently not only God-fearing but also gun-fearing, and gave him the boot. Nothing weird about owning an AK.

Look at it this way, Dude, it really isn't about what I think as I didn't date the OP or see how he behaved on his ice cream social dates. Your clarification of gun owner versus enthusiast is nice, but still doesn't mean the behavior was in a manner that would not weird out someboy.

OP weirded her out and she followed her gut feeling and did the right thing to report the oddity as such. She was proactive.

Two years later?

Apparently, it weirded her out quite a bit.

 

[61chalk]

Seems they judged you, an not her...I don't think they excercised any wisdom in suspending you...now you know a little what Jesus felt around the Scribes an Pharisees...they should of asked why this woman waited 2 years, an if there were any other witnesses...then they should of said they would like her to come in to face you with these acusations...this will stop alot of nonsense. It would be one thing if they simply looked into it with you, but too pass sentence an suspend you first is all wrong...they trespassed against you brother, I would feel free to rebuke them, they showed they have no love for you at the most, an at the least, lack wisdom in their job. Like one person said on a earlier post..."people are running from church, an back to God."

 

[Flyboy]

There have been 1,763 wars inn recorded history, little more than @ 6% have been ascribed to religious motives.

[citation needed]

 

[sophijo]

favor

.....maybe she did you a favor and you might consider looking for a job with like-minded folks.....you know; lemonaide out of lemons.

 

[Coyote_Hunter_]

My favorite pastor is much more of a gun nut than I am. And that's saying something...

 

[Texpatriate]

This just plain sucks. I'm sorry to hear about your trouble.

Meanwhile, at OUR church in the Midwest, all of our men's retreats (about 2-3 a year) involve multiple firearms, including the senior pastor's AR-15, multiple handguns, shotguns & clay targets, and most recently a full auto MP-5. Pastor took me shooting one time and I tried to give him money to help pay for ammo. He wouldn't hear of it, told me he gets reimbursed out of the church's budget for taking parishioners to the range!

An anti probably wouldn't stick around for long at our church, though not because they wouldn't be welcomed.

 

[blackops]

Honestly, I wouldn't carry an AK in my trunk, tell a girl I want about it, and ask her if she wants to see it, but thats besides the point. What is sad is everything is about judging YOU and not her. It's stupid, all this is because of a girl...typical though.

 

[zeropistons]

txgolfer45, that was changed some time ago. Sec. 46.035 (i) was added in '07, I think.

(h-1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsections (b)(1), (2), and (4)-(6), and (c) that at the time of the commission of the offense, the actor was:

(1) a judge or justice of a federal court;

(2) an active judicial officer, as defined by Section 411.201, Government Code; or

(3) a district attorney, assistant district attorney, criminal district attorney, assistant criminal district attorney, county attorney, or assistant county attorney.

(i) Subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(6), and (c) do not apply if the actor was not given effective notice under Section 30.06.

(j) Subsections (a) and (b)(1) do not apply to a historical reenactment performed in compliance with the rules of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

 

[Titan6]

This is one of the reasons I don't go to Church anymore.

My belief system holds that the church leaders personal beliefs should hold no sway over my behavior as all men are very fallible. There are other ways to worship and other ways to follow the right path as best we can. Having someone tell me what their personal belief that the scripture has in it does me little good.

 

[gripper]

Back in September,I was moved off of a jobsite( I ama security contractor) ;because my account manager called me from the road to request directions to a gunshop in Lawrence Ma....someone is supposed to have overheard the conversation,amd called to account manager's boss who ( worrying about the contract)ordered the AM to "pull him(me)out".
What can I say?the very same folks who scream "tolerance &diversity" are usually not respecting of either.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Its all about upbringing. I dated one girl that feared guns so much, she cleared a living room chair before the .45 cartridge I tossed her would have landed in her lap. Before we broke up, she had become involved in shooting enough to shoot a MAC-10 SMG, and various pistols, and ENJOY it. You just got to raise them women right!

 

[bigalexe]

To the TC: I personally wouldn't recommend working for a "Megachurch" or any church for that matter to the degree that your income depends on it. I see on this forum a lot of people tend to be very devoted to their religion which i don't believe is a bad thing but i haven't had great experiences with the practice and wouldn't depend on it for food and water.

 

[eye5600]

I summarized the OP's situation for a friend who is a lawyer and his immediate response was "there's a big lawsuit there."

 

[doublebarrel12]

That is crazy... She just must have been let down you weren't packing an AR!!