Over on yesterday’s Question of the Day (Have You Ever Felt You Needed A Gun and Didn’t Have One?), Commentator LK is stuck on the horns of dilemma. Perhaps members of TTAG’s Armed Intelligentsia could give her some guidance? Much obliged.
The trigger episode (pun not intended, well yeah .. it is) that prompted my decision to get my permit and a gun was when there was a car jacking right outside the apartment in which my two teens and I were living. I heard about it on the TV news. They gave a description of the guy and I knew exactly who it was. I called the sheriff’s office to tell them where to find the dude, and waiting to hear on the news he had been apprehended. And waited, and waited. And I saw him out an about several times in the next few days. The neighbor who was the victim eventually recanted his story, even though several witnesses backed it up. A few days later, he disappeared. He and his family very quietly moved out. I moved a few weeks later, but was terrified anytime I saw this guy . . .
Oh yeah … I’m a little 5’1″ middle aged chick. Dude was big, huge and tall … and ran with rough trade. I won’t offer any further description lest I be accused of racism … IYKWIM.
Anyway, post HGC permit, and owner of a handgun, there was a recent experience that has left me pondering my priorities. My workplace does not allow guns on the premises. I am OK with that, the office is located in a very safe area, on a dead end street with only other office buildings. I have a 30 foot walk from the building to my car. So, I leave my handgun locked in the car while at work.
This particular day, I did not re-holster it prior to going to [big box discount warehouse that does not have muddy carry policies] and left it locked up while I shopped. On the way back to the car, I was approached by a young man who was giving me a crazy song and dance about his truck being out of gas, he has money but only on a debit card that the gas pump was refusing yadda yadda … meanwhile, trying to stop my progress towards my car by standing in my path. I angled out towards the middle of the road so as to bring attention to the situation, while telling him I had no cash. That’s OK, he said, just use your card to put a couple dollars in, you can drive me over there.
No freakin’ way was I going to let him get anywhere near my car, but that was where my gun was. Just as I was about to turn around and run back to the store, he gave up and walked off … and I watched him get into a truck with someone else at the wheel and they drove off. So, yeah … after totally berating myself for being so dumb to leave the gun in the car, I swore I would never leave it behind again. How I felt was completely vulnerable and defenseless. And dumb … really, really dumb.
So now I have a real dilemma. As I said, my workplace does not allow guns in the building. Where we are now, that’s OK, but we are moving from our remote, suburban locale to smack dab in the middle of downtown. Instead of a 30 foot walk to the door, I will have to park in a public garage and walk a block over to the office building. The building itself has armed security, and the garage is regularly patrolled by the city police. But still … They can’t be in all places at all times. Now I am trying to decide what to do. If I go unarmed to and from the office, that leaves me without my preferred tool of self-defense.
If I carry against the rules of the company (and I believe the building is posted too) I risk losing my job, even if it is revealed that I am carrying while in defense of myself or another. If caught carrying in a posted location in which there is no need for defense (someone just sees it), that brings legal issues in addition to loss of job. BTW, most of my co-workers are very pro 2A, many have their permits and own handguns. Our parking lot is very well-armed.
Being caught in this situation is very frustrating, and I still haven’t decided which way to go … and no, quitting is not an option. Negotiating with the company isn’t either … it is a company-wide policy, and the company is a Fortune 10 corporation .. not One Hundred, TEN. I’m just a teeny peon at the bottom, so if I don’t like the policies, I am sure I will be shown the door. Making a stand for my rights against versus losing my livelihood? Not gonna happen unless I happen to win the lottery.