Maybe I’m being overly sensitive / paranoid here, so I thought I’d describe a situation at work and get the opinions of various Dopers.
First the background information: I work for a mega corporation populated with office / tech type workers housed in a cubicle farm.
Second the incidents:
There have been several incidents at work lately in which a couple of people have brought weapons in to work. The weapons are collectible (but functional) swords and knives. A few people gather around and ooh and ahh over them. Some people discuss the various qualities of the blade, the heft, etc. Someone even joked about how may swings it would take to decapitate someone with one of the swords.
Now this all makes me uncomfortable. With all of the stories in the new of workplace violence, I am really just a little afraid of anybody who comes to work armed. Even if the person who brought the weapon in does not go psycho (and there are no guarentees there IMHO) there is still the possibility of some other psycho getting their grubby hands on that weapon and having a little stabfest.
I’ve been handling this by taking my breaks around the times the weapons come out in hopes that I will be far away if the blood starts flowing.
It doesn’t really seem to bother any other people around me so I wonder: Am I being overly sensitive / paranoid or is this truly freaky and unacceptable in the workplace? (I **know[/]b it is unacceptable from an HR standpoint but I really don’t want to be a stool pigeon.)
I would not feel comfortable either. My friend used to always play around with a butterfly knife that he had. I have known him almost my entire life, and I still didn’t feel comfortable around him. The same thing with my other buddy who owned a gun. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with that thing, even though i knew my best friend wasn’t going to try to harm me. I would not like it in the workplace at all…
I do not think you are over sensitive. I think it’s a potential HR nightmare waiting to happen. Right now, they are allowing knives and swords of a collectible nature to be shown off at work. They would be hard-pressed to deny the same show-off platform to the collectible gun owner. And from there, how could they say that Elmer Not-Right-in-the-Head can’t bring his automatic weapon to work? Bad idea, and if I were you, I’d be making a stink about it.
I personally wouldn’t be too concerned for my own safety, nor much concerned for any deliberate attempts on anyone else’s life. People who bring things like that in are generally doing it because they’re proud of the weapon, not (usually) because they want to intimidate others. They want to show-off thier shiny toy.
Therein lie much of the problem. Weapons aren’t toys, and bringing them to the office for the purpose of showing-off demonstrates an appalling lack of thought. Anyone that thoughtless do thoughtless things, or fail to prevent others from doing thoughtless things, and that’s how unintended injuries happen. Please note that I didn’t say accidental injuries. There’s nothing “accidental” about bringing a weapon to work.
Unregulated weapons at work are highly inappropriate, and may very well be cause for disciplinary action or even termination, depending on policy.
Then there are those very few who do wish to intimidate. They are another reason that all unregulated weapons should be banned from the workplace.
Reglated weapons (concealed carry permits and the like) are a somewhat different issue. In general, if you have a carry permit, you’ve had some modicum of training, and know that you’re not to be brandishing the weapon. Brandishing in/at the workplace, should, IMO, be grounds for immediate dismissal. Permited weapons should be checked upon reaching the workplace, and should not be allowed past the front lobby, IMO, but that’s an issue that no private company I’ve ever heard of (outside armed courier/armored car services) has addressed.
I have to more-or-less agree with Tranquilis on this one. While I don’t think that people should be required to check their weapons at the door, I don’t think that people should be waving them around. If a guy has a nice new showpiece then he should invite others to maybe see it in his car or at his house, but not in the office.
I have no idea what you mean by “regulated” weapons. All knives and firearms are regualted in some manner. These laws and the permits that can be gained differ fom state to state, and you should check your local listings for the restrcted lengths and what-not. Maybe you should inform them that it is illegal to carry these knives and such around and that you would hate to have to report them for it. Even in Texas we can’t carry around a knife with a blade larger than 5" and/or a double-edged blade. Most states are much stickier.
Sorry. Less precise than I should have been. I mean “licensed to carry” when I say “regulated”, as in the person carrying has had to comply with regulations in order to be permitted to carry.
Maybe “Permit Weapons” would’ve been a better choice.
Thanks for the responses so far. I just didn’t feel right. I’m trying to think of a good way to bring it up to the parties involved. I don’t want to look like a stick in the mud but it really doesn’t seem appropriate.
I tried being subtle but that didn’t work. When the person in question was showing off the swords and asked if I wanted a closer look, I said “No thanks. I’m scared. I’m going on break now.” I did it in kind of a humorous way, though. Later, the person asked why I was scared. I explained that while I was exaggerating a bit for comic affect, weapons in the workplace make me nervous due to the stories of workplace violence.
The next week the person in question brought in a knife to show off. :rolleyes:
My thinking is that you have a thoughtless knife buff in the office. If he continues, it’s an issue for HR. As much as I enjoy possessing fine steel, you’ll not catch me bringing it to work. It doesn’t belong there. If I wish to show my collection, I invite people to my house, I don’t bring my collection to them.
tevya , I agree that unless you work in a weapons shop, your colleague is behaving inappropriately. You should take this up with HR or your/his manager.
I also think you’re being overly paranoid if you really have some fear that someone is going to wack out and hack you all down. If someone is going to freak at work, they are going to bring their own weapons and it is much more likely to be a gun or homemade bomb.
I collect bladed weapons, and am a gun owner, so in my opinion simple squeamishness isn’t the issue here - a weapon is just a thing, an object that has no mind of its own and should not be viewed with fear simply for its mere existance.
HOWEVER, bringing a weapon to the workplace is extremely inappropriate for several reasons, and allowing others to “play with” it is even worse. An inexperienced person swinging a sword around to “try out the balance” or somesuch is an injury waiting to happen. All it takes is a little carelessness and suddenly there’s blood on the carpet. Many people don’t consider swords to be “real”, and therefore will do stupid things such as pretending to take swings at others with them.
Yes, you should be uncomfortable. Everything Tranquilis has said is hitting the nail on the head. The folks bringing their weapons in to show them off are creating a hazardous situation in their ignorance and should be disciplined.
I think you are probably right about me being a little over paranoid about this. For the most part I don’t really expect the person in question (or anyone else in my building) to go around decapitating / stabbing people. On the other hand, I have these thoughts in the back of my head that say :“Remember those guys who you heard about on the news? I bet nobody expected them to go psycho either.” I think that in this case maybe it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Also, it intimidates me just a little bit to know how heavily armed some of my co-workers are. What if I’m feeling particularly bitchy due to PMS one day and I say something to really tick this person off? Will they try to off me in the parking lot after work? I know it is very unlikely but it still makes me feel like I should be a little wary around these particular co-workers.
Also, the person who brought the swords / knives in prompted someone else to ask if he could bring his gun(s) in. While I think he was joking, that is still creepy. BTW, this is the same guy who made jokes about “snapping” and something to the effect of going on a rampage. Now granted, he was definitely joking (and I really do have a good sense of humor) but one never knows.
Ok. After going back and reading all of the responses again, maybe I am being pretty darn paranoid about the possibility of grievous bodily harm occurring. I also feel better, though, about my sense of the general inappropriateness of it.
Also, to clarify what was going on, nobody was swinging the sword around and people did seem to be being careful with the knives and swords. It still didn’t seem right and just generally ooged me out.
I worked for several years with Lloyd Riddle. I never saw him bring a weapon to work, but I know he had been reprimanded for it, because he told me. We had lunch together several times (he was the switchboard operator at the community college, I registered students for classes, sometimes over the phones). He offered to sell me a gun once. He claimed to be a licensed gun dealer.
He’s in prison now in Michigan for first degree murder, a contract killing arranged over the internet. When I heard he was arrested, I absolutely believed he was capable of it, though I didn’t believe he did it. After what I heard about the evidence (and it was not a local trial), I now believe both.
Maybe completely irrelevant to your situation, tevya, I think, but spooky nonetheless.
Maybe not. Playing with lethal weapons is bad juju.
I looked at the title of this thread and thought you would be discussing staplers and pens. I’ve got a book on my desk right now that I am sure would cold-cock someone if I threw it at 'em!
If you feel paranoid, you are. Unreasonably paranoid? We don’t know your co-workers well enough. But I think it’s inappropriate too. Maybe bringing in a sword once would be “neato” but it sounds almost like people are trying to get attention at the work place for having “cool toys.” But they’re not toys, and the bearers are not kids.
Ask them if they want you to bring in your broken shards of glass / used bandage / flammable liquid / scorpion collection next time. Maybe they’ll get the hint.