Texas firefighters may soon be able to bring guns to a fire fight.
A proposed bill in Texas would create a special exception for firefighters and EMS personnel in counties with a population of under 50,000, allowing them to pack heat alongside medical equipment.
The proposed law was suggested to Representative Ken King by a volunteer firefighter concerned about being sent into potentially violent settings. King’s district is rural and often sends EMS and firefighters to remote locations where they don’t have police support.
Kevin Grant, the EMS director in Cooke County, where King’s district is located, was generally supportive of the law, saying that it “makes sense.” However, Grant noted that without requiring sufficient training for first responders, such a law could do more harm than good.
“If you are going to put paramedics – EMT’S – in that position, they need to have advance training not just a 10 hour CHL course,” Grant told a local CBS affiliate. “I think you will also have to have policy and procedures in place to where – how are you going to secure the handgun if you have agitated patient -maybe mental ill patient in the back of the ambulance, because it’s such close quarters.”
MedStar has also express worry over the unintended consequences that putting firearms in the mix could have.
“We don’t necessary want to introduce a weapon on ourselves into a scene that quite frankly may be used against us or someone else at the scene,” Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar, told CBS.
Meanwhile, the Texas Municipal League has voiced concerns over liability issues.
“We’re working with the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Civil Justice League to fashion some language to cap the liability,” Kyle Bush, legislative director for King, told Red Alert Politics.
King’s law follows the Christmas Day murders of two firefighters in Webster, N.Y. who were ambushed while responding to a car fire that was purposely set by a deranged man to lure first responders to his home.
The Texas lawmaker’s proposal is indicative of many measures being taken nation wide to construct sensible gun policies at the local level rather than wait for the federal government to step in and take the reigns.
