Hospitals?

[joepamjohn]

Why would you even hypothetically think about carrying your gun on you when your wife just gave birth in a hospital? Are some people that paranoid?

Yep. Some people are just that paranoid. I have to say when both of my kids were born the last thing on my mind was a need for a gun in the hospital. This is the craziness I can't believe I read here.

Let me see....Ok. Honey I can't hold your hand because I need to hold the Glock instead...now breathe....now breathe....

[Rob454]

Hypothetical scenario:

Wife is pregnant. When she gives birth, she stays in the hospital for the standard two nights. During that time the husband is also staying in the room, watching over his wife and newborn child. Can the husband consider the wife's hospital room his domicile? And more importantly, can he legally keep a firearm in his room during this time?

I work in hospitals all the time. There are tons of cops and security. I dotn think you need to have a gun with you. What do you think is gonna happen? One of the hospitals I work at one time they had a code pink. Dude the hospital shut down. i mean NOBODY was allowed to leave OR come in the hospital and the PD was immediately called ( code pink-abducted /mission baby)
What are you exactly worried about?

[NorCalMama]

Have you called and asked the hospital their policy on carrying a firearm on their property?

[MudCamper]

This thread is shocking. What's shocking about it is how Sarah Brady everybody turns when the OP asks a perfectly reasonable question for a GUN FORUM.

If a person believes in carrying for self defense, then isn't it reasonable to always carry everywhere you go? Not only do I think so, but I think to think otherwise is just plain stupid. We all keep guns in our home for self defense. How is a hospital more safe than our own homes? It's not. It's much less safe.

The only reason ever to not carry is if it is illegal. Now if you don't have a CCW or that CCW does not override the hospital's anti-self-defense regulations, then of course don't carry. But all this "the hospital cops will protect you" crap is nauseating.

[Snake eyes]

Mudcamper made my point. But let me add.

It really is shocking that people who believe in owning and in some cases carrying guns for protection of ones self and ones family find it questionable, and worthy of insults, that a person would believe in being armed at all times. Especially out in public.

Will a person need a gun in a maternity ward? I highly doubt it. But what about when walking across the hospital parking lot? We don't always get to park at the front door. Sometimes we have to park quite a distance away. Sometimes we have to visit or leave the hospital at night, in the dark. Some hospitals are in bad neighborhoods. Criminals go to the same hospitals that law abiding folks go to. In fact, drug addicts desperate for a fix might be drawn to a hospital knowing there are drugs there. Not the kind of person I'd want to encounter unarmed while walking my wife across a dark parking lot at 2 in the morning.

I wish I had the sixth sense that so many others seem to have to tell me precisely when and where criminals are going to strike. What a wonderful gift to have. Or maybe I didn't get the memo that criminals sent out stating that hospitals were now officially "CRIME FREE ZONES". How considerate of them. Perhaps someone with all seeing powers can tell me what other places my loved ones and I will be perfectly safe from harm. Such knowledge would be a comfort.

I'm sure there are many places where a person will never need a gun. In fact, I'm quite confident that the overwehlming majority of people on this forum will live there entire lives without ever needing a gun. Either in public or in their homes. But some of us might. And there's no way to know who, when or where. I'd wager that most regular citizens who NEED to use a gun weren't expecting it. I'd wager that most victims of violent crime weren't expecting that either. When you go to a restaraunt or a shopping mall or your work do you expect to be killed? Probably not, in fact it's probably the last thing you would expect to happen. And yet there are a lot of people who did those very ordinary things who aren't alive any more because someone there shot and killed them. Must've come as quite a surprise. I guess their sixth sense wasn't workin on those days.

It really is a shame when a person expressing an interest in carrying a gun for defense of self and family in this sometimes savage world is regarded as "paranoid" in of all places a GUN FORUM.

[tombinghamthegreat]

Assuming it is not part of a university there would be nothing legally preventing you from having a firearm in a hospital, for example concealing a unloaded kel tec rifle with mags would be fine. If i am wrong please cite the PC code barring guns in hospitals. But as mention before, if the hospital has security, metal detectors odds are the hospital itself would bar you from bringing a gun into the place.

[kamagong]

This thread is shocking. What's shocking about it is how Sarah Brady everybody turns when the OP asks a perfectly reasonable question for a GUN FORUM.

If a person believes in carrying for self defense, then isn't it reasonable to always carry everywhere you go? Not only do I think so, but I think to think otherwise is just plain stupid. We all keep guns in our home for self defense. How is a hospital more safe than our own homes? It's not. It's much less safe.

The only reason ever to not carry is if it is illegal. Now if you don't have a CCW or that CCW does not override the hospital's anti-self-defense regulations, then of course don't carry. But all this "the hospital cops will protect you" crap is nauseating.

Thank you, I was a bit frustrated hearing people call me paranoid and a mall ninja for asking the question. This is a gun forum of all places and I did not expect to be insulted for asking what I still think is a valid question. The worst part is that people didn't even take the time to consider what I was asking. Many assumed that I would be carrying in the delivery room and playing with my pistol instead of providing support to my wife. I merely asked about keeping a pistol nearby, just as I would at home. Maybe it is paranoid. But I control who comes into my home, I have no idea who is in the hospital.

[Rick530]

I do not leave home without my CCW. Awhile ago I had to go to the hospital for an emergency c scan on my abdomen. Once in the room with the nurse she said I had to drop my pants below the area being scanned so no buttons/zippers etc show up. Told her about my CCW, showed her my CCW paperwork and she casually wheeled over a table next to me to set my CCW pistol on. No freaked out nurse running to call security. Now maybe this is because I'm in hickville and damn near everyone carries a gun, and during duck season if you see a truck without a shotgun you figure there out of towners. As far as the hospitals policy on ccw I have no idea, just telling of my experience. And the "security" stationed at the door of the hospital I wouldnt trust to secure a piece of toast.

[MudCamper]

This is untrue, do you have some statistics to back up your claim?

So you are telling me that my home, which I know, and control who enters, and where I can be armed freely, is less safe than a public place full of strangers including criminals and drug addicts? You, sir, are seriously deluded.

Even if you think the mall cops in the hospital could protect you from a PCP crazed psychopath you might find in a public hospital, do you really think they could do anything for you from a dark corner of the parking lot as Snake_Eyes pointed out?

I think what this thread is demonstrating is how deep the anti-gun dogma can penetrate, even our own pro-gun psyches.

[nick]

Yep. Some people are just that paranoid. I have to say when both of my kids were born the last thing on my mind was a need for a gun in the hospital. This is the craziness I can't believe I read here.

Let me see....Ok. Honey I can't hold your hand because I need to hold the Glock instead...now breathe....now breathe....

Is there any specific reason why you'd feel compelled to hold on to your Glock when your wife's in labor? Or expect someone else to do it?

I don't see a problem with one carrying a handgun in a hospital or anywhere else. I don't see how a hospital would be any more secure than most other places (and yes, I have worked at a hospital). It's no more paranoid than carrying a handgun elsewhere. That is, unless you're a psychic and know exactly when to expect to need it.

Oh, and I'm just that paranoid that I have $500K car insurance, full coverage, with low deductible. I mean, I know, what could possibly happen, with me being a safe driver and all. I'm just paranoid.

[MudCamper]

Dark parking lots full of druggies and muggers aside, for those that think the maternity ward is some kind of magical crime-free zone, read on:

Maternity Ward Nightmare, Part Two: Baby Napper Pretended to Be Pregnant

Mom robs another mom in maternity ward

Thief caught red-handed at GPHC maternity ward

Woman Attempted To Abduct Baby From Maternity Ward

The abduction stories are plentiful.

And another interesting thing I just noticed: While I was google searching for news stories about maternity ward crimes, I found 10 times as many stories in UK and Australian newspapers than US newspapers. What does that tell ya...

[nick]

Mudcamper made my point. But let me add.

It really is shocking that people who believe in owning and in some cases carrying guns for protection of ones self and ones family find it questionable, and worthy of insults, that a person would believe in being armed at all times. Especially out in public.

Will a person need a gun in a maternity ward? I highly doubt it. But what about when walking across the hospital parking lot? We don't always get to park at the front door. Sometimes we have to park quite a distance away. Sometimes we have to visit or leave the hospital at night, in the dark. Some hospitals are in bad neighborhoods. Criminals go to the same hospitals that law abiding folks go to. In fact, drug addicts desperate for a fix might be drawn to a hospital knowing there are drugs there. Not the kind of person I'd want to encounter unarmed while walking my wife across a dark parking lot at 2 in the morning.

I wish I had the sixth sense that so many others seem to have to tell me precisely when and where criminals are going to strike. What a wonderful gift to have. Or maybe I didn't get the memo that criminals sent out stating that hospitals were now officially "CRIME FREE ZONES". How considerate of them. Perhaps someone with all seeing powers can tell me what other places my loved ones and I will be perfectly safe from harm. Such knowledge would be a comfort.

I'm sure there are many places where a person will never need a gun. In fact, I'm quite confident that the overwehlming majority of people on this forum will live there entire lives without ever needing a gun. Either in public or in their homes. But some of us might. And there's no way to know who, when or where. I'd wager that most regular citizens who NEED to use a gun weren't expecting it. I'd wager that most victims of violent crime weren't expecting that either. When you go to a restaraunt or a shopping mall or your work do you expect to be killed? Probably not, in fact it's probably the last thing you would expect to happen. And yet there are a lot of people who did those very ordinary things who aren't alive any more because someone there shot and killed them. Must've come as quite a surprise. I guess their sixth sense wasn't workin on those days.

It really is a shame when a person expressing an interest in carrying a gun for defense of self and family in this sometimes savage world is regarded as "paranoid" in of all places a GUN FORUM.

Ah, good points. One of the two times someone seriously tried to mug me was at the hospital's parking lot. The other time was late at night in Hollywood (where one pretty much expects this to happen).

A few more events from when I worked for a hospital (I worked for two university hospitals at different times in my IT career):

- a bear wandered into the hospital. The only reason it didn't get to the ORs (they were between the bear and the cafeteria with all the wonderful smells) was because the nurses and IT people barred the automatic doors leading to the ORs. Yeah, automatic doors opening inwards. There was no security in sight, we sprayed the bear from the fire extinguisher (didn't work for long), and then the firemen showed up (way before our own security got there, and the university/hospital even had its own PD!).

- a bum got into the a/c system at the Cancer Center. Some areas stunk to high heavens. Those air pipes go almost everywhere.

- the hospital hired security guards to provide after dark escorts for the female patients/visitors to the university police-patrolled parking lots. Yes, it was that much of a problem (probably still is). Well, I'm not a female, not a visitor, and the guy who tried to mug me did so at around 5 p.m.

- the second hospital I've worked for was very big, with a big ER. Scuffles in ER (and sometimes in other departments) were almost a daily occurrence.

- while you needed a badge to get into some areas (including where the IT group I worked for was located), we constantly had to direct lost visitors poking their heads into our room.

Now, both of the hospitals are located in very good areas.

[joepamjohn]

Is there any specific reason why you'd feel compelled to hold on to your Glock when your wife's in labor? Or expect someone else to do it?

I'm just paranoid.

Ahhhh, no. That was my point.

Now, you being paranoid? You said it, not me.

[joepamjohn]

And another interesting thing I just noticed: While I was google searching for news stories about maternity ward crimes, I found 10 times as many stories in UK and Australian newspapers than US newspapers. What does that tell ya...

You have too much time on your hands??

[okimreloaded]

i'm a pretty ... well I wouldn't say paranoid, I'd say - cautious dude but even i would feel safe in a hospital. Not the ER though. Man some crazy stuff can go down in the ER. But don't worry man, you guys will be ok in the baby place.