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If you have a minute post your comment at the bottom.By Dave Fehling / 11 News
HOUSTON—Are your coworkers armed?
At a small company off the Beltway, employees fired back when a mentally ill woman who was supposedly looking to kill her father shot a worker with an arrow.
Video
Dave Fehling's 11 News report
February 2, 2009 View larger E-mail Clip More Video Two coworkers there had their own handguns -- and permits to carry them – when the woman arrived.
A blog purportedly written by one of the armed workers described the scene.
“She charges out of the (conference room) and my boss unloads his (handgun) on her, 6 rounds,” the blog read.
Gun proponents say this is what the Texas Concealed Handgun Law is for: allowing properly screened and trained citizens to protect themselves.
But are guns a good idea at work?
Many companies say no. Houston-based Conoco-Phillips is among them.
Conoco-Phillips not only bans guns in the office, but also in company parking lots. That rule has led to lawsuits in Oklahoma.
But could armed workers have protected themselves two years ago at the Space Center when a disgruntled worker smuggled in a gun, killed a coworker and held another hostage before shooting himself?
With companies laying off people by the thousands, some corporations are questioning their gun policies. Sometimes the answers they’re getting are surprising.
“If they call me and say, ‘Should we prohibit handguns?’ I do not automatically say, ‘Yes, of course,’” Tim McInturf of the Littler Law Firm said.
In Texas, unless a company specifically prohibits it, there’s nothing illegal about packing a weapon at work.
In fact, 11 News found at least one case in which a group of Houston business executives were actually advised to start carrying guns.
“We actually sent the executives to get trained on handguns, to apply for licenses,” McInturf said.
McInturf advised the executives to arm themselves after a worker they laid off threatened to kill his bosses.
He said with the recession in full swing, it’s not uncommon for companies to call saying they’ve been threatened by workers who’ve lost their jobs.
In those cases, McInturf said it can make sense for employees to be armed so they can protect themselves.
Jim Oliver, a Houston dad who used to own a software company, said he always respected Texans’ right to arm themselves – that is, until last month.
It was Oliver’s stepdaughter, Julie Parker, who was shot in the Houston office off the Beltway.
Parker survived the ordeal.
“I read his blog and he was very cavalier about it. Almost bragging, “ Parker said.
Parker’s family said they fear some armed office workers might be too quick to draw their weapons and use deadly force.
“It’s not something to be cavalier about,” Oliver said.
