This guy works for you: “Management is thick-witted about the dangers of an active shooter in my workplace. So, I brought a gun to work. It’s in my desk drawer. I am ready even if management is in denial.”
In my experience, many employees feel this way, and many managers are ready to consider allowing employees to carry firearms on their premises.
Hey, what could go wrong
As it turns out, lots can go wrong. Anything that goes wrong is your management's liability exposure—not the employee, not the police, not your management.
It’s All Over in 4 Minutes
Is there plenty of evidence that someone carrying a firearm at work could be the right answer to an active shooter? There is:
- All active shooter incidents are over in eight minutes. 85% are over in less than four minutes, and so says the FBI and NYPD. The latest evidence: Apalachee High School in Georgia. Over in less than a minute.
- Police in any U.S. city, county or state will take 6-20 minutes to arrive at your front door when you call 911 to report an active shooter.
- Emergency Insight: YOYO means you’re on your own. Police can’t deploy in time for an active shooter incident at your workplace.
- Every state’s fire code and OSHA regs require that every workplace create an Emergency Response Team and then implement procedures for any emergency, including active shooter. Then train all employees for this—every—emergency.
So, this sounds—no demands—that we arm employees. It’s our only defense.
Remember my Drill Sargent’s wisdom on my first day of Basic Combat Training in the U.S. Army: “For complex problems, there is a simple solution that’s always wrong.”
No, arming employees is not your only defense.
First, have you planned and trained in detail regarding RUN/HIDE/ FIGHT or an equivalent response? The law requires you to plan and train for all kinds of emergencies.
Second, if you feel that arming employees is still the right answer, have you considered:
- Under federal and state law, is it legal for civilian employees to open or concealed carry at work in your jurisdiction?
- Do you have a clear, detailed written policy and job description?
- What are an employee's qualifications for whom management wants to carry a firearm at work?
- Is there constant and professional training, certification, and recertification of your civilian employee(s), just like a police department?
- Are your plans, training, drills and exercises for armed employees fully cooperating with your local law enforcement?
- Does your management know the Active Shooter Protocol governing your LE’s detailed planning and training for entering your premises and dispatching your active shooter?
- Is this your desired strategy deployed in all your facilities? For all shifts? Before and after normal business hours? In your deposition, you will be cross-examined, “If this is your answer, why did you not deploy it in all your facilities? At all hours? Are those employees not important to your duty of care?”
Does this sound like a complex answer to a complex problem? Does implementing arming employees sound expensive, time-consuming, require policing, and require management discipline for years to come?
Roger that.
The real exposure to management is our experience in active shooter incidents in workplaces like yours.
Scenario
This morning, the angry husband of one of your female employees comes to your workplace to kill her. He walks in your front door. Kills your receptionist. His pistol’s report alerts your armed employee(s). Your active shooter moves internally to his target. Your workplace is now in chaos as everyone has heard his pistol’s report.
Your armed employee intercepts your active shooter. Your armed employee—without warning your active shooter—starts firing at him, wounding him, and killing three of your employees. This is called contagious discharge. Happens with police officers all the time. Your active shooter also empties his pistol, missing your armed employee but putting two more of your employees in wheelchairs for life. Then the police showed up. Their active shooter protocol: go into your building, find the guy with the gun, and kill him. Police now enter your building, find your armed employee—the guy with a gun—and kill him instantly.
Guess who is responsible for all those dead and wounded employees. Your senior management is solely responsible. Management has sole and absolute exposure to the inevitable lawsuits by employees’ families. The families will win. Certainly, they will cost your management tens of millions. Perhaps closing your business.
Hire a Police Officer
If you feel you must have armed personnel at your facility, hire a police officer and use that officer for all hours. You may decide to have an armed officer only for certain situations, such as issuing a protection order, firing an employee, or attending events such as a board of directors meeting.
Employing a police officer means the officer’s immunities also travel to your workplace. S/he is known to arriving police teams. Your officer is highly trained and currently certified. Your officer’s presence may scare away any attempt by an active shooter.
Thus, our scenario ends quite differently. The active shooter is dead. We have no employees dead or in wheelchairs.
Expensive?
Sure. So are all the policies, procedures, training, certification, and recertification required to arm an employee. And the lawsuits? Very expensive.
If you want an armed person at your workplace, hire an armed police officer.
