In the aftermath of the mass shooting inside a city building that left 12 people dead, a city employee has started a petition to allow workers to conceal carry firearms during work.
“In the wake of recent tragic events, it has become abundantly apparent that this employee weapons possession ban must end. Time and again we have tragically witnessed that gun-free zones are in fact some of the most dangerous and vulnerable places in America,” the petition reads. “We are petitioning to allow our properly permitted City personnel to have the right to bear arms and defend themselves while at work. Such arms will be required to remain concealed.”
This is not the first petition started by Vincent Smith, an engineer who is also an evacuation manager for the building where the shooting took place.
“About four years ago, I recognized there were some gaps in our evacuation plans and in our securities, and so I tried to get them addressed,” Smith told WTKR.
“The gap was not allowing employees to carry a firearm if they were qualified,” he said. “Instead, people were forced — like I am every day — to choose between earning a living and saving my life.”
The first petition in 2016 only received a couple hundred signatures, including Bert Snelling, a contractor who was killed during the mass shooting in May. The new petition has over 2,000 signatures.
Smith said if he had pushed for change the first time, then the outcome of the shooting that occurred could have been different.
“I don’t propose that every employee with a concealed permit be able to carry it at work. I see a program where employees are vetted through background checks, psychological screening on a regular basis,” he explained.
A family lawyer for one of the victims in the Virginia Beach shooting revealed victim Kate Nixon had considered bringing a gun because she feared the gunman, but decided against it because she worked in a gun-free zone building.
