A Call To Arms: Firefighters and Guns
Is the Homeland Really Safer?
By One of Hope in the Homeland’s Resident Fire Captains
No doubt, the idea of firefighters carrying weapons invokes passionate and polarizing opinions. Today’s unsettling and fast-changing world gives rise to massive changes — but are these changes good?
Several states — Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, and New York — passed legislation to allow firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMT) to carry concealed weapons on duty. Texas is the most recent state to move in this direction. McLennan County’s state representatives are showing support for a bill to allow firefighters and EMTs who possess a concealed carry license to carry a handgun while on duty. House Bill 982 was introduced by Rep. John Wray (R-Waxahachie) after a volunteer firefighter brought a safety concern to his attention.
However, not everyone is on board with firefighters or EMTs carrying weapons on duty. On the one hand, many fire departments have policies against firefighters carrying or even storing a weapon in their personal vehicles while on duty. They see firefighters carrying weapons as riddled with danger and “mission creep,” blurring the lines between first responders and law enforcement.
On the other hand, some fire departments already allow firefighters to carry. In rural parts of the country, police response is considerably delayed. Supporters of concealed carry rights for first responders argue that having the ability to protect themselves while on duty outweighs the liability.
Is a firefighter or EMT who carries a concealed weapon really contributing to mission creep? If the weapon is concealed and used strictly for self-defense, could that counter the argument? Although mission creep can certainly be problematic, the conclusion that concealed carry equals mission creep is a bit of a stretch. The argument that concealed carry infers that first responders are interested in performing police duties does not stand up to scrutiny. If firefighters and EMTs openly carried weapons, perhaps, but as long as they follow the protocol for responsible concealed carry, this should not be an issue.
Is the fire service in an identity crisis? Or has our society reached a point where all first responders need to protect themselves both while on and off duty?
To answer that question, we can look at several high-profile cases in the last few years that raise concern and add fuel to the first responder concealed carry argument.
On December 24, 2012, in Webster, New York, two firefighters were killed and two injured when they were ambushed while responding to a house fire.
In 2013, four firefighters responding to a routine medical call were taken hostage by a gunman who barricaded himself in his home outside Atlanta in Suwanee, Ga. Thankfully, no one was injured during the standoff, but some fire chiefs argue that had the firefighters been carrying a concealed weapon, it would have given them an alternative and less risky exit strategy.
According to the FBI, violent crime rose by 3.9 percent between 2014 and 2015, and felonious killing of police officers hit a five-year high in 2016.
With society seeing a rise in violent crime, tough questions must be asked. Are the decisions to allow firefighters to carry concealed weapons simply a knee-jerk reaction, or is it a legitimate solution? To some firefighters and EMTs, carrying a firearm on duty might feel a bit foreign. Others would welcome it as a workplace safety measure on par with firefighter turnout gear and other personal protective equipment (PPE).
To gain additional perspective on the issue, we asked our law enforcement officers to weigh in.
What do Police Officers think about concealed carry for firefighters and EMTs? Hope in the Homeland asked its resident law enforcement official to weigh in on the debate.
As one of Hope in the Homeland’s resident law enforcement officials, I welcomed this discussion presented by my esteemed colleagues. Let me start by saying, this is not a 2nd Amendment issue or discussion; this is more a discussion about whether the current state of the country warrants the carrying of concealed weapons by firefighters, written from the perspective of a law enforcement manager with 15 years experience.
In preparing my response, I asked myself a couple of questions. What is the essential mission of a firefighter? Can that mission integrate with the immense amount of training and certification required to safely carry a weapon, let alone a concealed one? Additionally, what are the legal ramifications, based on what I have seen in the law enforcement community, if a firefighter kills or injures an aggressor, or worse, a patient, a bystander, a fellow responder? Finally, is the public ready to accept arming another segment of the government?
Let me first start by saying I love firefighters. Yes, we have a sibling rivalry between our two occupations, but when the smoke clears (pun intended), first responders are all part of one big family. Bringing the hope of a safer America is our highest priority. It is why we signed up for such thankless and dangerous professions. However, as I sorted through the questions I referenced above, I came to the conclusion that, from a law enforcement officer’s perspective, the costs and risks associated with allowing firefighters to carry concealed weapons heavily outweigh the benefits of arming them.
Rob Wylie wrote a compelling article at Firerescue1.com asking, ‘should fire chiefs give firefighters guns?’ He breaks this discussion down into five factors to consider: liability, the two-jobs one-person problem, perception of firefighters, role confusion, and training. These are interesting topics to flesh out when considering the risks associated with firefighters and EMTs carrying concealed weapons.
As someone who has personally seen the implications of an officer-involved shooting, I believe fire department chiefs should think long and hard about whether arming firefighters and EMTs contributes to their essential mission. The liability and responsibility that comes with arming government employees is a large burden to shoulder, especially when things go wrong. While I want my fellow first responders to be safe, failing to consider the consequences of an armed firefighter is reckless. In the police world, every shooting exposes the department and the officer to untold liability. Police officers have faced criminal charges, or at the very least grand jury hearings, for split-second decisions that they have trained their entire careers for. Do I think it is wise for fire departments to assume those enormous undertakings when the consequences are not even related to their primary mission? I have decided on a strong no.
Is arming firefighters and EMTs the REAL issue?
As leadership in the fire service, we must realize the issue is deeper than allowing officers to carry a concealed weapon. Firefighters increasingly do not feel safe in their job duties. Police officers cannot “clear” every scene. As leaders, it is every fire chief and captain’s responsibility to ensure their men and women go home safely to their families after every shift; therefore, the issue of firefighter and EMT safety certainly deserves more attention. How can we empower our personnel to feel safer while performing job duties? The answer might or might not be to carry concealed weapons; however, something must be done or firefighters and EMTs are likely to take matters into their own hands. Simply enacting policy without change only places a Band-Aid on a deeper issue.
