What If

[Moonglum]

What If?

Here's the scenario:

You work in a secure office. The ONLY people who have access to the room during your shift are you and your coworker.

While you're getting your lunch out of the Fridge you look down and realize your coworker left his backpack open on the table and there's a handgun in it.

(I want this to be CLEAR NO ONE is authorized access to your office but you and your coworker. No one else even has a key. This isn't the same as randomly leaving the gun in the bathroom)

The guy also doesn't drive. He has no car to leave the gun in. So his only option is to leave in his backpack. It's (IMO) not an escalation like it would be if he COULD leave it in his car but chose not to.

Company policy is ZERO TOLERANCE automatic, immediate termination on the first offense. The coworker doesn't SEEM to be a fruitcake.

What do you do?

 

[STORM2]

If it’s that secure, the cameras have already caught the violation, and this is a setup. What happened to the metal detectors and the search? Are the guards dead or missing? Need more data.

 

[Carl the Floor Walker]

The Virginia Beach Court House shooting left 12 innocent people DEAD! All were in "GUN FREE ZONE". Co-workers knew the shooter was dangerous. One victim reported to her husband that she wanted to bring her own weapon and she felt fear from this employee. But her husband dissuaded her because it was a gun free zone. One person killed was a avid gun enthusiast who did not carry that day and would have had a good chance of taking out the Shooter, given the location he was in.
Is is a tough call for the security guard. He could lose his job, on the other hand he could use his own gut feeling and just pretend he did not see the weapon and possibly save lives from a active shooter.
Since I am not in the guards Position I will not comment on what I would do.Because I really do not know at this point.
Democratic states are having more and more Gun Free Zones. It is scary. Sometimes you do what you gotta do. And that is carry. Is your life worth more than your job? Personally I think carrying in a backpack was a bad idea, but that could be another subject.

Where I live, we call GUN Free Zones Sitting Duck Zones. Possibly if the guard knew the backpack carrier, he might consider that this would be a Ally for him in a bad situation like a active shooter. Just some things to think about.

 

[Skippy]

Ignore it. Maybe the coworker thinks you're the fruitcake.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[jar]

One thing that's common throughout all office shooting is that no one is ever surprised the shooter would attempt such a thing.

That also holds true outside the office; when neighbors are interviewed after an incident they never show surprise and always knew the person was a danger.

Or have there been instances when folk thought the shooter was not a fruitcake?

A gun free zone means that it should be a gun free zone. If your co-worker is already willing to disobey the rules is there any reason to believe that your coworker is not willing to break other rules?

 

[FireForged]

I would need a ton of more context to offer and example of what I might do. Generally I mind my own business but it would all depend on the circumstances, laws, risks involved, seriousness involved, professional obligations, duty, or oaths ( if any).

 

[Moonglum]

a gun free zone means that it should be a gun free zone.

That's the most nonsensical thing I've read today.

Sandy Hook was a gun free zone.
Columbine was a gun free zone
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school was a gun free zone
The STEM Academy was a gun free zone

Until they weren't

 

[FireForged]

This is what he said:

A gun free zone means that it should be a gun free zone. If your co-worker is already willing to disobey the rules is there any reason to believe that your coworker is not willing to break other rules?

In my estimation, there is nothing nonsensical in that statement.

He seems to be speaking within the context of an employee, not what some psycho criminal might do, would do or should do. I took his comment to suggest that if the employee does not think much of the rules, one might wonder what other rules might they may be breaking?

If this scenario is actually a real situation and if you are the person armed with all the facts, then you are the best person to make this judgment.. not us. This does not seem to be the sort of decision that would cause a bunch of hand wringing. Are you actually struggling with this decision or is this just for fun?

 

[Aguila Blanca]

a gun free zone means that it should be a gun free zone.

That's the most nonsensical thing I've read today.

Sandy Hook was a gun free zone.
Columbine was a gun free zone
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school was a gun free zone
The STEM Academy was a gun free zone

Until they weren't

It's not nonsensical in the least. The operative word is "should." What the statement points out is that places that claim to be gun free ... aren't. A place that is posted as and/or required by law to be gun-free very definitely should be gun-free, but there's usually no mechanism in place to ensure that the signs and/or laws are complied with.

What's nonsensical about saying that a place that's designated as a gun-free zone shouldn't have guns in it?

 

[TunnelRat]

I would report the individual to the proper personnel. Could this person be storing a firearm at work out of a desire for personal security? Certainly possible, but leaving a firearm as unsecured and exposed as is described here doesn’t fill me with any sense of confidence that this is in fact the case. I know only two people have access to the room, but that still means someone else other than the gun owner has access to the room. At best this person is negligent in my estimation.

I’d add that in the states where I have lived I have always been an employee at will. Management can terminate me for many reasons and this level of violation would certainly fit. More so I’m relatively confident that were management to find out I was aware of this incident and did not report it that I would also be terminated. Part of maintaining my own personal security is having employment to provide food and shelter for myself and family.


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[HiBC]

These " Challenging dilemma" questions do not offer a right or wrong answer.

Which bad answer I choose will do no good,it only sets us all up to judge each other.
Not my favorite game.

Here is what stands out to me:

Sure,we can be loyal,stick together, "2A All the Way" RTKBA Band of Brother and Sister RTKBA folks...... And look the other way.

Thats one option.

What about the responsibilities of being armed? The guy packing MIGHT have good intentions. He can still do a lousy job of carrying a gun.

IMO,this scenario is not much different than "Back the Blue!!" till you run into a bad cop.

I don't think bad cops should be protected.

This person with the backpack left his gun unattended in an open backpack.

He failed. Big time.

 

[Pistoler0]

That's the most nonsensical thing I've read today.

Your OP is more non-sensical IMO.

I guess the super duper secure gift shop at which you work security in Manitou Springs doesn't have a metal detector?

Maybe it was a toy gun. Did you check it? I mean: YOU are in charge of security and YOU saw an unauthorized gun in the premises. Isn't that your job? You are asking TFL how you should do it?

The sensical answer that you request for your 'what if' in the OP is that both clowns in this scenario oughta be fired, IF it ever happened <<wink wink>>

 

[Aguila Blanca]

This discussion is going downhill a bit too fast.

Closed.