Having recently been to the doctor's office, where I know at least one of the doctors doesn't like guns.
And thoughts of possible near future CCW reciprocity somehow coming to be, where I can now carry at the doctor...
What if they make me? That I am carrying? I don't want them to post a no-guns sign
Sure, when you don the paper nighty your pants and holster are all rolled up with your other clothes and sitting on that spare chair. But it'll look funny if they go "Oh, Mr. T-Bolt, can you go to this room next door and let us get an xray of your neck?" Something that has happened in the past. But if I had a pistol, I'd also grab my pants in that case, before perambulating down the hall in my disposable smock.
If they notice the gun? One thing a body could do is tell them a teeny tiny little lie, "It's ok, I'm with law enforcement."
Then, they figure all is right with their world. Cops are allowed to have guns, right? So they'd calm right down.
YIKES!
No, there is much too much that can go wrong with that little sorta lie. It's not a full lie. A body didn't say he WAS law enforcement. But a body was hoping the listener would imply that meaning. All law abiding peeps are 'with' the enforcement of laws. But you wouldn't want to say that line in front of a lawyer with a tape recorder. Might as well carry one of those cheesy CCW 'badges' so the cops will have something else to laugh at when they take you down and cuff ya, impersonating a police officer is a felony, I am pretty sure.
Yeah. Think of something else to say when the doctor notices you carrying.
Folks do calm down when they think you with the gun are probably a cop. But don't YOU directly try to convince folks of it.
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6 comments:
T-bolt:
I am in law enforcement, so I carry a gun everywhere. Back when I was a ccw holder without a badge, I had the same mental exercises you are having here.
Through the simple expedient of carrying a gun everywhere, I've discovered this: if someone isn't expecting a gun, they won't see a gun. I tend to call my Dr's office whenever I'm sick, and see whichever Dr is free at the time. It's a huge office with 20-25 Dr's. That said, I'm sure most of them don't know I'm in LE work, and none have made me as a carrier.
Now when I go to the Dr's office(or any place that could be considered a non-permissive enviornment), I usually throw a j-frame in my pocket, thinking that I'd rather have it truly concealed than have to have the conversation about being in LE. Truthfully, a LCP sized gun would be best for this role. Disappears in a pocket.
Yes, if you had to completely disrobe, you have more of a chance to have a problem, but otherwise, an LCP in the pocket probably would never be noticed.
When I go to the doctor's office, I tell the nurse I am armed if they ask me to remove a sweater or jacket to take my blood pressure. I explain it is holstered and not a danger to tem and I am carrying legally. Only two times I have ever had a problem was when I went in for radiation treatment with one and was really to sick (bad judgement call on my part, did not want to believe how out of it I was at the time) to have carried so they asked me not to again when undergoing that treatment. Then a few years later, at same place for follow-up visits but no treatments, one of the nurses got all upset because I was carrying. Go figure, for a few years it did not bother her then all of a sudden bang, after some concurrent sensational shooting somewhere, she was offended by me carrying. Now, I still carry when there but just put it in a bag when I walk in and the bag goes with me everywhere. If I go in for an MRI anywhere, I first call to see if they have a secure locker for my personal effects, if they do, then I carry there, if not then it stays at home or I choose another place for the MRI.
Actually, even in front of a law with a tape recorder, "I'm WITH law enforcement" isn't the same as "I'm IN law enforcement." One of these things is not like the other. And if the staff misunderstands your meaning, that isn't your fault. While some cops might not like it, I understand and I've been a lawman over 40 years.
And since, according to Robert Peel, "the police are the public and the public are the police", what you say is completely true.
Now I know that 90% are against them but fanny packs work at times like that.
No need to tell them anything.
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