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Originally Posted by dksuddeth
the law abiding peaceful employees weren't armed because of policy, but that didn't seem to matter to the person that comitted the crime, did it? Had these people been allowed to practice their rights to bear arms, maybe the only person dead would be the one that had the intent on holding a massacre.
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You don't see any problems with allowing armed individuals into banks, hospitals, department stores, schools, etc? No possibility that a momentary lapse in judgement might hurt or injure someone accidentally? Should we arm all of our middle school and high school students because another one of them might go off the deep end? Don't I have the right not to have to worry that I might accidentally jostle someone in an elevator and have their weapon discharge because they neglected to put the safety on? I think if you think through what you're advocating, you might see that no one's rights are absolute.
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Originally Posted by dksuddeth
Are those companies that prohibit an employee from carrying a weapon responsible for the employees life in the event that an armed individual with intent to maim or murder enters the premises? My guess is that they would not be held liable and any individual that dies as a result of the criminal not caring if they obeyed law/policy/whatever died because they were prevented from providing for their own self defense.
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And in with that guess, you are wrong. Pretty much every state requires employers to provide a "safe place to work", including protection from fellow employees and outsiders. Basically what you're saying is that your right to be armed as an employee trumps my duty as employer to protect you and other employees from harm through accidental or purposeful actions. The post office works under slightly different rules because it is a semi-public entity, but if this had happened at UPS or really any other private firm, there would be significant amounts paid as damages to the survivors and the families of the deceased through a variety of insurance policies (life, workers comp, general liability, employment practices liability). Employers can and have been held liable by the estates of people killed during violent events.
Just to clarify my position, I don't have any problem at all with responsible adults owning guns. However, I do not want to live in a society where everyone is armed, nor do I want to raise my children to live in fear of the remote possibility that they might be victims of violence.