Who has their CHL?

[usafmedic45]

Just to get the questions that inevitably creep up during or start these sorts of threads out of the way:
"So how many of you carry while on duty?"
"Has anyone here shot someone while on scene?"
"Don't you think we should be carrying guns?"
"Don't you think it would be cool if they issued us guns?"
"Which gun do you think makes me not look too fat in these EMT pants I bought from Galls, along with this nifty stethoscope and trauma shears that can cut the roof off a Beemer?"

*sits back and waits to be flamed for saying what every senior member of this forum was thinking when this thread was started*

 

[TransportJockey]

And that would be why I'm keeping a close eye on this thread.

 

[pullnshoot25]

Just to get the questions that inevitably creep up during or start these sorts of threads out of the way:
"So how many of you carry while on duty?"
"Has anyone here shot someone while on scene?"
"Don't you think we should be carrying guns?"
"Don't you think it would be cool if they issued us guns?"
"Which gun do you think makes me not look too fat in these EMT pants I bought from Galls, along with this nifty stethoscope and trauma shears that can cut the roof off a Beemer?"

*sits back and waits to be flamed for saying what every senior member of this forum was thinking when this thread was started*

Sounds like a thread on a gun forum, except that the topics usually involve zombies and shtf.

 

[usafmedic45]

It also sounds like every gun thread we've ever had on this forum with only one or two exceptions.

 

[hatsuo]

Just to get the questions that inevitably creep up during or start these sorts of threads out of the way:
"So how many of you carry while on duty?"
"Has anyone here shot someone while on scene?"
"Don't you think we should be carrying guns?"
"Don't you think it would be cool if they issued us guns?"
"Which gun do you think makes me not look too fat in these EMT pants I bought from Galls, along with this nifty stethoscope and trauma shears that can cut the roof off a Beemer?"

*sits back and waits to be flamed for saying what every senior member of this forum was thinking when this thread was started*

I don't get your point?

 

[ffemt8978]

I don't get your point?

His point is that a firearms thread on an EMS forum generally leads to problems, which leads to people letting their emotions dictate what they type, which then leads to the thread being locked and some members getting a forum vacation.

 

[TransportJockey]

Translation... please keep it civil. This is not a gun specific forum, so firearms is actually one of the more provocative topics that can get posted here.

 

[hatsuo]

His point is that a firearms thread on an EMS forum generally leads to problems, which leads to people letting their emotions dictate what they type, which then leads to the thread being locked and some members getting a forum vacation.

I would imagine that people that join EMS forum are usually people that are in or interest in the EMSS, with that being said regardless of the topic being firearms or any other topic why would emotions dictate what we type and why in the world would it lead to problems? Anyone with reasonable amount of intelligence can control emotions ESPECIALLY those that are involved in the emergency medical field. A EMS with no control of emotions or let emotions dictate what they type should not be in EMS. The main point of the thread, which was posted in the correct field was to see how any other share same hobby, interest etc.

 

[hatsuo]

Translation... please keep it civil. This is not a gun specific forum, so firearms is actually one of the more provocative topics that can get posted here.

I understand.

Just to clarify, My original question what who has CHL? Posted in the correct place. I meant to see who shares same hobbies, interest, activities.

 

[ffemt8978]

I would imagine that people that join EMS forum are usually people that are in or interest in the EMSS, with that being said regardless of the topic being firearms or any other topic why would emotions dictate what we type and why in the world would it lead to problems? Anyone with reasonable amount of intelligence can control emotions ESPECIALLY those that are involved in the emergency medical field. A EMS with no control of emotions or let emotions dictate what they type should not be in EMS.

The type A personalities that this field attracts brings out people who are vocal in their support of their viewpoint on hot-button topics. It becomes a problem when people forget our First Rule. In addition, intelligence has no bearing on whether or not somebody can control their emotions about a topic they feel passionately about.

The main point of the thread, which was posted in the correct field was to see how any other share same hobby, interest etc.

We understand that, which is the reason we allow these threads to continue to crop up from time to time instead of closing or removing them. You assertion that this "was posted in the correct field", while accurate in so far as we agree that the Lounge is the appropriate sub-forum for it, is wholly irrelavent about whether or not an EMS forum is the appropriate venue to talk about firearms. Why don't you take a few moments and use the search feature to view some of the previous threads here pertaining to firearms and you'll see what we are talking about.

 

[usafmedic45]

why would emotions dictate what we type and why in the world would it lead to problems?

Do you really have to ask that?

Anyone with reasonable amount of intelligence can control emotions ESPECIALLY those that are involved in the emergency medical field.

*picks self up off of floor from falling out of chair laughing* You really are a newbie/student aren't you? You have way too much faith in the intelligence and maturity/self control of the average EMS provider.

A EMS with no control of emotions or let emotions dictate what they type should not be in EMS.

Agreed- despite the fact that you just repeated yourself in the same sentence- but it does happen with shocking frequency because of how ridiculously low our standards are for entry into this field.

I, personally don't have a problem with the thread, but just saw it as something likely to spiral downward into a masturbatory orgy of the folks on this forum who wanted to be cops but couldn't pass the psych, fitness or educational requirements and therefore fell back upon being an EMS provider. Those, and the "I want to go in the military because combat would be AWESOME!!!!" (read as people who've played WAY too much Call of Duty and seen Saving Private Ryan once too often), are the sorts of folks who derail threads like this one into debates about us being armed on duty and using force to protect ourselves.

 

[Anjel]

Didn't your other thread turn into a huge gun debate H?

And that didn't even start out about guns.

So that is the point they are trying to make. People get mad, people were yelling at one another, and then FF had to break out his star and start watching.

 

[firetender]

Most notable quote no one picked up on

I do have a small armory of handguns, mostly from family members that have went to prison or passed away.

Cool family; let's not ask HOW they passed away and you got their guns! (just ribbing you, friend!)

I reckon the way this whole gun thing gets handled here bugs, bores and scares me more than anything else on this Forum.

Since they are not standard issue, it's really not about equipment. Since they all basically work the same, identifying the rod you pack has no real relevance to EMS whatsoever. May as well expound on what brand of Band-Aid you carry; that's about as interesting and relevant!

All you get is a visual picture of an object whose primary purpose is to injure or kill people being brandished by its users like something out of Reservoir Dogs. Is that REALLY what anticipating coming on to a scene is like for these medics?

Of course not. Perhaps that's what throws me though because here are people who really DO love the field and do their best to be responsive practitioners, yet, give them a soapbox and they get you thinking they'd just as easily pop their patient or someone nearby as they would save someone's life.

That's part of the Dirty Harry complex though, isn't it? Don't carry if you don't intend to use. And for some reason, a lot of the gun carriers here want you to see their rods and make it clear they would use them!

It's the implication of that intention that stands COUNTER to the purpose of our jobs AND this Forum. The image leaves a really bitter taste in my mouth.

Personally, if I were carrying or COULD carry on the job or on my person a concealed weapon, nobody, but no-body would know about it! Why reveal the one secret advantage I have or let someone else know that on my person is something they could kill ME with?

Sorry, maybe I got a little hung up on the word "concealed"!

A firearm for personal protection is not something to be bragged about. It's something that you have SO MUCH RESPECT for -- precisely BECAUSE it is lethal -- that it is something you NEVER want to have to use. The absence of that interpretation here is what worries me the most.

That is, of course if you're talking EMS. But that's not what the talk evolves to here. It all gets wrapped up in the right to talk, just like the right to carry. But how much of the talk is about bragging and how many of the responses are about "Shut up, you're a Cretin!"? If you're going to look at it at all, look at it in a larger context.

And it's all about "carrying" isn't it? I can't recall ONE INSTANCE where someone here actually popped a perp while on-duty. I'd like to hear about that, so let me start with a FULL-DISCLOSURE:

One day, having just transported a woman about to deliver a baby to the ER, I found myself holding a Police Service revolver on her boyfriend, who had accompanied her to the hospital in my ambulance. As it happened, the P.D. had escorted us to the hospital for an emergency delivery and one recognized the guy's face from an FBI Wanted poster for a bank robbery and shooting in Washington D.C.

An Officer asked me to get a positive ID of the man (who would NOT leave the side of his g-friend in the delivery room!) from a tatoo and then bring him out to the Waiting Room for them to arrest. I did so, he bolted, and the next thing I knew, the cop pinning him to the ground handed me his revolver and I was standing there ready to protect my Brother and ally.

I know what I would have done. Had the tide turned and the cop been in danger I would have pulled the trigger. Maybe I wouldn't have gone for the head, but any torso shot could easily have been fatal. I wouldn't take a chance of just wounding the perp either. Why? because I had a lethal weapon available to me and that means predictable outcome! I would no more adjust my LifePak down to 200 Joules before defibrillation.

What I learned holding that gun, was it really would have been all or nothing at all, and no matter what the law says, I, who have pledged to save lives, would have taken one. That's a dilemma I NEVER want to face again. Just the fact that I would have used it without hesitation haunts me enough because from that moment on in my life, I would NEVER be the same person.

So how many of you have actually killed another human being with a firearm? I know there are some here who have and maybe they are the ones that should start the threads.

And then, there are the legal issues. Were we to spend as much time looking at the sources of emergency care and tracking them back to the Constitution, we might learn something relevant to the profession!

But not here; it's more of an emotional issue than threads on dead babies!

All the above is non-official, but as a Community Leader I would ask that in the future, any talk of guns be limited to footnotes in larger issues of personal scene-safety threads, and that as ILLUSTRATION only.

 

[ghettocowboy]

So if ur not into guns or don't carry then why not skip over this thread?
Gp100 until it gets warmer

 

[ffemt8978]

So if ur not into guns or don't carry then why not skip over this thread?

Some of us can't skip threads simply because we don't like the topic.

 

[usafmedic45]

Some of us can't skip threads simply because we don't like the topic.

....and some of us have genuine comments to make. Besides, just because we're not all about listing the weapons we pack- which I've always said is a sign that you're either lying or compensating for some perceived deficiency or inadequacy; after all isn't the point of a concealed carry permit so that no one knows you're carrying?- doesn't mean we're "not into guns" or "don't carry".

 

[HotelCo]

Cool family; let's not ask HOW they passed away and you got their guns! (just ribbing you, friend!)

I reckon the way this whole gun thing gets handled here bugs, bores and scares me more than anything else on this Forum.

Since they are not standard issue, it's really not about equipment. Since they all basically work the same, identifying the rod you pack has no real relevance to EMS whatsoever. May as well expound on what brand of Band-Aid you carry; that's about as interesting and relevant!

All you get is a visual picture of an object whose primary purpose is to injure or kill people being brandished by its users like something out of Reservoir Dogs. Is that REALLY what anticipating coming on to a scene is like for these medics?

Of course not. Perhaps that's what throws me though because here are people who really DO love the field and do their best to be responsive practitioners, yet, give them a soapbox and they get you thinking they'd just as easily pop their patient or someone nearby as they would save someone's life.

That's part of the Dirty Harry complex though, isn't it? Don't carry if you don't intend to use. And for some reason, a lot of the gun carriers here want you to see their rods and make it clear they would use them!

It's the implication of that intention that stands COUNTER to the purpose of our jobs AND this Forum. The image leaves a really bitter taste in my mouth.

Personally, if I were carrying or COULD carry on the job or on my person a concealed weapon, nobody, but no-body would know about it! Why reveal the one secret advantage I have or let someone else know that on my person is something they could kill ME with?

Sorry, maybe I got a little hung up on the word "concealed"!

A firearm for personal protection is not something to be bragged about. It's something that you have SO MUCH RESPECT for -- precisely BECAUSE it is lethal -- that it is something you NEVER want to have to use. The absence of that interpretation here is what worries me the most.

That is, of course if you're talking EMS. But that's not what the talk evolves to here. It all gets wrapped up in the right to talk, just like the right to carry. But how much of the talk is about bragging and how many of the responses are about "Shut up, you're a Cretin!"? If you're going to look at it at all, look at it in a larger context.

And it's all about "carrying" isn't it? I can't recall ONE INSTANCE where someone here actually popped a perp while on-duty. I'd like to hear about that, so let me start with a FULL-DISCLOSURE:


So how many of you have actually killed another human being with a firearm? I know there are some here who have and maybe they are the ones that should start the threads.

And then, there are the legal issues. Were we to spend as much time looking at the sources of emergency care and tracking them back to the Constitution, we might learn something relevant to the profession!

But not here; it's more of an emotional issue than threads on dead babies!

All the above is non-official, but as a Community Leader I would ask that in the future, any talk of guns be limited to footnotes in larger issues of personal scene-safety threads, and that as ILLUSTRATION only.

If this is what you would like to see, then why type out half a page of comments about firearms, and the people who talk about them?

Just my two cents..

 

[pullnshoot25]

Don't forget open carry!

 

[TransportJockey]

Don't forget open carry!

Heh, that topic will send most firearms forums up in arms I've OCd when I lived in CO and before I turned 21 in NM, plus in NM until I got my CCW.

 

[pullnshoot25]

Heh, that topic will send most firearms forums up in arms I've OCd when I lived in CO and before I turned 21 in NM, plus in NM until I got my CCW.

Good for you! I am an advoate of carry, regardless of method but i 9 like OC over CC.

Google "they carry guns" and take a wild guess who the guy in the article is