AutoZone employee fired for stopping robbery with a handgun.

[Kelly Green]

This story reminds me of the analogy of the man walking along the beach who sees another man in the water drowning. There is a posted sign stating that law prohibits going into the water. What does the walking man do: keep on walking or disobey the law and save the drowning man?

Corporate policy and our laws should not be so ridged as to not allow some flexibility to adapt to the situation.

 

[Chaosrob]

Unless you own a farm or work in your own one man store, garage or whatever, except for us retires, just what percentage of the jobs allow you to knowinly bring a gun to work? I bet darn few! If I ran or owned a business it would be like the armys policy of dont ask, dont tell.
I was a guard at lockheed aircraft. Many times we searched cars for guns and other stuff. You signed off your rights and was informed of wich rights as a condition of employment when you hired in. Dont agree? Go to work for less than half as much elsewhere. Several guards, one in particular were like a bloodhound in profileing what cars to check and finding guns. I was the worst at it. I found none, and I thought I was good at profileing.
A wounded robber or family survivers wont get much from a mom and pop store in a lawsuite and will probley lose. They do stand a chance though of getting a settelment from a huge industry that dont want the publicity and jurys prone to punish big bad corperations.
39 people posted before me. How many of you that work for big companys will let you knowinly bring a gun in? I dont doubt some hide them in their cars but I highly doubt you tell the plant manager you do, right?

Again, some states, as mine (Missouri), the company cannot restrict an employee from having a firearm in their vehicle.

 

[feralmerril]

Can a solider stateside that lives on base, put on civies, put on a gun and go to town and not break some regulations? For that matter, can they even get a concealed weapon permit? (I honestly am not sure).
If you have a defense plant they darn sure will restrict you bringing a gun in ANY state. That was part of my job for 35 years. You might get away with it, but you wont if you advertise it or if a guard finds it if he wants to keep his job!

 

[Chaosrob]

Can a solider stateside that lives on base, put on civies, put on a gun and go to town and not break some regulations? For that matter, can they even get a concealed weapon permit? (I honestly am not sure).
If you have a defense plant they darn sure will restrict you bringing a gun in ANY state. That was part of my job for 35 years. You might get away with it, but you wont if you advertise it or if a guard finds it if he wants to keep his job!

Autozone is not a defense contractor. Nor is this a soldier, or any other scenario. It is what it is.

 

[nipster]

Missouri Law says an employer cannot keep an employee from keeping a firearm in their vehicle. They can prevent them from carrying inside the work site, but not on their property outside the building.

Florida has this same law, several do. But we arent talking about that...

Again, some states, as mine (Missouri), the company cannot restrict an employee from having a firearm in their vehicle.

Again, this is not about keeping a firearm in a vehicle at work, it's about carrying at work, inside the building.

 

[nipster]

Can a solider stateside that lives on base, put on civies, put on a gun and go to town and not break some regulations?

No, they cant in most states. Members of the armed forces are not law enforcement officers and do not fall under the same exemptions as far as firearms as they do. There are exceptions, like if they are on a convoy

For that matter, can they even get a concealed weapon permit? (I honestly am not sure).

It depends on the state.

If you have a defense plant they darn sure will restrict you bringing a gun in ANY state. That was part of my job for 35 years. You might get away with it, but you wont if you advertise it or if a guard finds it if he wants to keep his job!

Yea, you give away your rights in certain professions. Like if you work at any sort of nuclear facility, despite state laws.

 

[Chaosrob]

Again, this is not about keeping a firearm in a vehicle at work, it's about carrying at work, inside the building.

I was replying directly to his post which was off of that topic


The guy had his in his car, he was not carrying inside of work. How did the topic change?

 

[feralmerril]

I and my best friend hired in burbank in 1965. Soon after we hired in the chief called bill in and said a particular parking lot was being hit and to patrol it a little more. Bill spotted a hood up and a probable illegal putting the battery in his car trunck. Bill held the guy and radio`ed for a captain. The captain was busy and had the desk send a backup, another new guard. Bill again called the desk and said send me burbank pd. A officer showed up and had bill do a citizen arrest. Later the chief comes in and chewed bills butt big time. How`s it look for a billion dollar corporation to be prosicuteing some poor indigent illegal over a car battery? etc, etc, and etc. Afterwhile you learn to make your own rules on some of these jobs.

 

[nipster]

I was replying directly to his post which was off of that topic


The guy had his in his car, he was not carrying inside of work. How did the topic change?

The guy went out to his car, and took it into work. At that point, the state law does not protect him because it was not in his car anymore, and he probably violated company policy.

 

[kudzu3]

They have a zero tolerance policy for employees having a gun in the store...Wonder what their policy is for robbers having a gun in the store?. Oh well, I guess that would be okay.

 

[Chaosrob]

The guy went out to his car, and took it into work. At that point, the state law does not protect him because it was not in his car anymore, and he probably violated company policy.

I understand that portion of it, but I was referring to the shift in posts talking about "on company property". Maybe I misread the posts, but that is the way it sounded like it was headed

 

[feralmerril]

There was thread drift here. Usualy when I read something it reminds me of other old past experiances and I like to tell them.
What we really have here is the ungratefull chain company, that the local manager and even possibly francise owner and probably friend of the hero employee haveing to fire him or else lose his francise, right?
Now if he dont fire him he no doubt is not only in jepordy of loseing the francise but also will stand alone in the expense of defending said employee all by his self. I already forgot the details, but the crook wasnt caught, was he? I seriously doubt he is going to lawyer up and start a suite up asking for damages for scareing him in a robbery that he wasnt caught in!
How to handle it from all angles? First ex customers should protest with publicity and not patronise auto zone. 2nd, if I owned that store I would disconnect myself with the francise with much publicity as I could get in the local newspapers and tv stations. Then I would hook up with any other francise auto parts company, nappa?, make my hero employee my new assistant manager, buy a motorhome and travel with my now better income.

 

[feralmerril]

I once had a aquaintance that ran a circle K that I frequented. He shot someone that was giveing some type suspicious trouble. Didnt kill him, just winged him. He thought the guy had a gun but he didnt. He told me in detail about it while he was still out on bail. It cost him his marrage, his store and I dont recall how many years in the pen.
It does happen. Dont know what that has to do with this thread, but you might find something there. Like I said, things remind me of things.

 

[cussedemgun]

The real reason

In our society, ALL must be insured to survive the up's & down's financially that fate can throw our way, and so it is with corporations.

I will bet my stetson & best six-gun that if anyone digs deep enough, reduced insurance rates go with the "anti gun policy" being agressively persued. That same insurance co. is under-writing liability & loss from theft, so it is understandable that the corporate bean-counters have decided that day-to-day insurance rates trump possible loss of revenue or even human life. They 'prolly are thinking "after all, losses are covered by our insurance as long as we keep said co. happy".

The point of the OP is "can we the pro-gun citizens make enough of a financial change in the Auto-zone business share so as to cause them to re-think their policy & reason therefor?"

 

[pawncop]

Sent them a note from their web site, I will no longer do business with them at all.

 

[papajohn428]

Sent them a note from their web site, I will no longer do business with them at all.

Same here, and I was NOT especially polite about it. I'm voting with my wallet, and if they don't want my business, that's fine.

What's sad is that if a legally-armed citizen had been there, and done the same thing, there wouldn't have been any repercussions. But their own employees don't have the same rights...........and this is somehow fair?

Stoopid Corporate lawyers..........since when is having your own employees robbed or murdered a good business practice? Sheesh. Just because the robber hasn't murdered anyone yet doesn't mean he won't.

 

[BrainOnSigs]

I was the victim of an attempted truck jacking last year. I saw the thug acting suspicious and was able to unbuckle and clear leather at the same time he was poking a gun in my face. Apparently he was seeking a softer target once he saw a gun bore staring back at him. He dropped like a stone and scrambled back to the hole he came out of.

My wife and mom were pissed. I told them that I would gladly give up my truck, wallet, etc just let me come back safely to my family. With that said I told them that I would be d*amned if I let the morals and values of a steeet thug decide if I came home unharmed. As someone mentioned earlier....what guaranteed do I have that he will let me live after he takes my property.

I said I made it home safe...didn't shoot anyone...and the bad guy needs new underwear...not me.

 

[speedyquad]

39 people posted before me. How many of you that work for big companys will let you knowinly bring a gun in? I dont doubt some hide them in their cars but I highly doubt you tell the plant manager you do, right?

two weeks ago, i signed that i read the company policy on firearms. it stated none on the property, including your personal vehicle. no exception. I refused to sign stating it went against my 2nd amendments rights and my state licensed right to carry concealed. i signed only saying that i read the policy, not agreeing to it. i then proceeded to tell our HR person that i did have a loaded pistol in my vehicle. she said nothing.

 

[feralmerril]

Good luck with that, I hope it works out for you. My employer was lockheed aircraft. We had some company owned parking lots that were outside the gates but also had many vehicles that had permits to drive in the plants. Of course we had different levels of security depending on what buildings etc. When a company has goverment programs the goverment pretty much makes the rules and once in awhile has moles watching the guards to see that we followed their gidelines. We didnt know who they were. We arent talking walmart or toys or us here. Sometimes we might be told to search every 7th vehicle one day or every 11th the next etc. If you drove in long enough you were bound to get searched at some point. The worst part of my job for me was snooping through peoples private property. However all employees knew it was a rule when they hired in and were used to it.

 

[giddyupsut]

Dang! I was happy when an A Z opened up about a mile away.
Guess I'll have to drive a little farther to O'Reilly's.