Posted on 10/22/2005 1:41:31 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Some years ago, long after a co-worker had left the Ministry of Truth, a number of us learned that, during this person's tenure among us, the individual frequently was armed and dangerous in the workplace.
If there is such a thing as a retroactive, post-traumatic, primal scream/crawling into a fetal position/whimpering with delayed fear syndrome -- the idea that many of us once worked alongside not only a complete crazy nut job, but a complete crazy nut job with a GUN certainly qualifies.
Or, put another way, if you ever needed a reason to install the mother of all panic rooms, consider this certifiably insane statistic: At the moment, across our fair beloved state, there are 354,552 Floridians with concealed weapons permits walking among us.
Let's face it, you just know at least a couple thousand of those folks running around with their hidden weapons are probably more unhinged than Edgar Allen Poe meets Rudolf Hess.
A Simple Test
Or perhaps they are directly behind you in traffic. Brrrrrrr.
Which brings us rather neatly to state Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Tea Cup Poodle, the legislative supernumerary of the National Rifle Association, who is the leading lotion boy on behalf of the gun lobby to deny employers the right to bar workers from keeping their weapons in their car while on company property.
How deranged is this?
Take this simple test.
Look around your workplace. Chances are there are one, or two, or three, or more co-workers you and your colleagues have often joked about as being the leading candidate to bring an AK-47 to the office someday.
Or maybe that Dilbert from Hell is -- you!
And now Dennis Baxley, R-You Talkin' To Me?, wants to make it just that much easier for your resident lunatic in the next cubicle to turn Amalgamated Widgets into a killing field.
We live in an imperfect world -- filled with very, very strange people who hear voices; who have issues; who really don't like you just ... because.
And many of these people are down the hall -- seething, fulminating, over in personnel -- filling out a job application.
Perfect World
Purely, as a general principle, can you make some kind of abstract Second Amendment argument that law-abiding citizens ought to be able to take their bazookas, their Uzis, their 50-caliber armor-piercing rocket launchers with them wherever they go, including onto the grounds of Acme Nose Tweezer International?
Well ... OK, whatever.
To be sure, in a perfect world where there was no workplace violence, where some employees weren't more unhinged than Son of Sam meets Lex Luthor, it would be fine if people drove into the company parking lot with their NRA-approved death ray, or their surface-to-air missile, or their Gatling Gun in the trunk. Who would care?
However, if the private sector can regulate other forms of employee behavior, such as smoking in the workplace, why can't employers also establish rules governing the presence of lethal weapons on private property?
There's no question the Florida Legislature, a subsidiary of the National Rifle Association, will pass Baxley's Fortune 500 meets "Six Feet Under" bill.
One question for Baxley, who does happen to have a conflict of interest in his legislation since he is an Ocala funeral director:
If as a result of the representative's legislative actions an act of workplace violence leads to the murders of workers, would Dennis Baxley also be willing to create a NRA-funded compensation account for the surviving families?
Didn't think so.
Hey,this sounds like the perfect argument in FAVOR of me keeping a gun in my car on company property or maybe even in my desk drawer...
Dear Danny-Girl,
The next time a criminal uses a gun while commiting a crime, be sure to demand to see his permit. The next time someone with a gun "goes postal," during the bloody aftermath, demand from the first responders that they check his permit.
You see, the problem isn't with FL state residents (or those legal citizens of any state) having concealed carry permits. They're not the ones committing crimes or going nuts and going on shooting rampages. The last time I checked, you don't need a permit for either one.
On the other hand, lets see what having a gun available to one of your co-workers might do... In the case of a school shooting, an employee had to run off campus in order to get the gun he kept in his car to hold the murderer at gunpoint until police arrived. Or the woman who saw both of her parents murdered right before her eyes at the Lubys in Kileen, TX, because she left her gun in her car, following the law that did not allow her to carry it concealed.
There are plenty more examples of where having a gun would have saved lives. There are plenty of examples of where having a gun DID save lives. And in both cases, they're far more plentiful than the number of examples where someone "goes nuts" and starts shooting everyone around them.
After all, if there are that many "nuts" running around with guns, there should be a whole lot more shootings, shouldn't there?
I hope when a nut job comes out of the woodwork,
... wait for it
... wait for it
... THRRRRRRPP! Good! the Colunist just crapped his pants,someone with a concealed weapon takes the nutjob out.
"...during this person's tenure among us, the individual frequently was armed and dangerous in the workplace."
What was it that made him dangerous? Someone with a lighter in their pocket could be "dangerous"...I think what this guy is not looking at is that no one ever got hurt but apparently some people were scared. Does being scared or worried mean that conditions are unsafe? There are a lot of people with a fear of flying and most often that fear is proven unnecessary. I've got an aunt and uncle who were just double carjacked at their home- He had listed his classic car for sale and was asked to let the "buyer" drive it to "his mechanic"...She followed along with no cell phone or weapon...They were walked out into the woods after dark in a rural area with a gun(s) behind them...they had to plead for their lives. Of course, the wallets, keys, everything was stolen followed by death threats on the answering machine at home...Two out three perps have been caught. Even with a gun(s) in the car or in the home or in the belt, they would've still been in a dangerous situation...That's not necessarily why the second amendment exists as it's written but it certainly applies, no?
A guy wrote this?
No matter. He's got a job as a journalist.
My last employer was a flaming lib, and her firearms policy was "leave them at home". However, I walked through downtown Seattle a mile-and-a-half to and from work. I carried my gun anyways. I took it off in the bathroom before going into the office, and put the gun and holster in my backpack. I put it back on when I left.
I knew that I would be fired if she found out. I'd rather get fired than get attacked/killed by some drugged out Seattle trash. My safety trumped her rules. If I had gotten fired over it, I would have accepted it. My life is more important to me than some liberal's whacked attitude towards guns.
Daniel Ruth, Gay Hysteria Times, reporter.
Daniel Ruth, Gun Grabbing Times, reporter.
Daniel Ruth, Pantywaist Do-gooder Times, reporter.
Daniel Ruth, Criminal Codler Times, reporter.
Boy does he look like he speaks with a lisp or what.
"This columnist needs a concealed brain permit
He needs any brain permit first - and then getting a brain. Concealed or not will depend on size, model, caliber and price considerations.
Can we get a "barf alert" on this one, I just stained my shirt.
I went to the site and read several of Ruth's other columns. He's quite the tedious writer. Probably wishes he could be a nationally famous hack like Buchwald but knows he'll never make it.
The poor fellow sweats and shakes in fear from dawn to dark, whenever and wherever he sees other adults. He fears those who are allowed to have guns. He has no fear of those who have guns who are not allowed to have guns because of criminal history or for being nuts.
Actually this sort thinks that anyone who does not see the world exactly as he does is a criminal and a raving fanatic and capable-nay, likely- to pull an air cooled .50 cal. out of his pants and open up on good socialists at any random moment.
His picture says, "Can we talk about this? Violence never solved anything! You can have my daughter, just please don't hurt me!"
see this post from our fellow enemy of Islaam and pantywaist Leftism
ROTFLOL
Yep, lunatics who are mentally gearing up to commit mass murder usually stop in their tracks when they realize that carrying a gun into a school or business is forbidden.
No matter. He's got a job as a journalist.
Ahhh yes. journalism...the last bastion of perceived legitimacy of employment for lily-livered socialist pukes - LOL
A.A.C.
The Final Crusade has commenced
Thanks for the ping AAC! This would be funny if it wasn't so serious. Hope you're doing well.
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