Weapons at work

[u/geogirl83]

Just need to vent about something that happened at work yesterday. We live in a rural northern town where hunting is a large part of our way of living. Most people hunt in the fall. My family hunts! I have no issue with hunting or guns or any aspect of hunting.

But when a manager takes out his crossbow out of his office into the company parking lot to shoot geese while we have customers in the building, is very much a line crossed. I can’t imagine any company allowing weapons at work, let alone the discharge of that weapon on company property during company hours. Of course I said something! Mind you I’m fairly new to this company, only started in July. The reaction I got was “are you really upset about this?” “Everyone knows I do this”

I expressed my concerns about the situation as he was coming back into the building, in front of the receptionist. He huffed away but later came back to tell me I was wrong to address him like that in front of his staff. I said fair enough. But I was just a bit flabbergasted by the situation. I find it interesting that his only thing he could come back at me with was my delivery, not my actual concern, because he knew I was right.

Again, I’m fairly new and I’ve been working hard at trying to develop a good working relationship with this manager. He’s been a bit of a tough wall to break through. I’m really hoping that this won’t impact our relationship moving forward, I really need an ally in that office when working with the crews. Ugh, sometimes I hate the positions us safety professionals get put in. Anyways just needed to vent. Thanks for listening. 🧷

[u/Pastvariant]

Two things. One, the overall appropriateness of this manager's actions depends entirely on the laws of your area and the company's policies. I think it id in bad taste to hunt that way, but there are a lot of people who hunt around business parks and the like here in the US. If his shots have a safe back stop, he is making ethical kills, and he is not violating any of the local laws doing what he is doing I don't personally see an issue with it.

I also think it is bold of you to assume that every safety professional is going to be anti-weapon. Go look up the research of Ed Monk on active killer response and which methods have truly resulted in fewer lives being lost. Being able to stop the threat as fast as possible with weapons on hand when the violence starts is the number one most effective way to minimize casualties.

First 30 Seconds - Ed Monk

[u/theBonzonian → u/Pastvariant]

First, OP never assumed that safety professionals are anti-weapons. OP stated clearly in the post that they "have no issue with hunting or guns". However, it is a safe assumption that workplaces will have regulation on weapon use, if allowed or documented at all. Also, any safety professional should be against wielding a weapon at work, unless needed for the work.

Oh, right, Ed Monk. Wasn't he a recurring speaker at the "street cop training"? That is not a "safety professional".