Letter to Scott & White Hospital

[MeMelYup]

I was at the hospital last month with my wife and noticed a 30.06 sign posted at the door we went in. This is the first that I have noticed this sign there in several years. I decided to send them a letter. Input would be welcome. Anyone that uses Scott & White please corrispond with them on this subject.

Scott & White Hospital
Attn: Director
2401 S. 31st St.
Temple, TX 76508


Subj: Scott and White 30.06 sign.

I just noticed the 30.06 sigh at the front door as one enters the hospital and was shocked. You are aware that the only persons affected by this are ones licensed to carry concealed handguns. This does not stop Joe Doe, any Gangbanger or anyone else not licensed from carrying a gun or weapon of any type into your establishment. It only stops the law abiding people.

To be licensed to carry a concealed handgun (Concealed Handgun License or CHL):
A person must be 21 or 18 with Military service.
Not have been convicted of a felony.
Is not charged with the commission of a class A or B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code.
Not within the last 5 years been convicted of a Class A or B misdemeanor.
Is not chemically dependent.
Is not delinquent in child support.
Is not delinquent in payment of taxes.
Is not restricted under a court protective order.

The person must have spent 8 to 10 hours in a class, under a State Certified instructor, on Texas Concealed Handgun laws including:
Where you can carry and cannot carry and the use of lethal force.
How to de-escalate a situation.
Signs and what they mean.
Proper way to identify yourself to a law officer when asked for ID.
Penalties for carrying in certain places, etc...
Must pass a qualification test of 50 rounds, fired at different distances.

After this you send to the State of Texas DPS, your packet with the instructor’s certification that you have passed the training requirements, with fingerprints and passport photo.

The State of Texas does a background check on you through your local Police Department, County Sheriff and other State and Local offices. Then the FBI and Niccs are queried.

When this is completed and no discrepancies are found the State of Texas will issue the person a Concealed Handgun License.

The above requirements surpass some of the requirements to be a police officer. A person with a CHL does not need, or required, to know traffic laws or most State, County or City ordinances. This requires less class room time.

A Judges or District/County Attorneys having a Texas CHL can carry (under GC, CH 411, DPS), with total disregard to an Alcohol 51% or posted 30.06 sign.

Most people with a CHL spend more time at the range than Police Officers. A majority go to the range monthly or every couple of months to stay proficient. Most police departments require recertification once a year and that is all a lot of Police Officers practice.

Texas State Statistics show you are 4 times more likely to be shot by a Police Officer than a person with a CHL.

The posting of a 30.06 sigh on your building makes for a target rich environment for someone that wishes to kill people and not be hindered before their mission is accomplished. Look at the School shootings, Virginia Tech, Ohio, and Oakland CA. Schools are Gun Free zones. Look at Harold, TX ISD, some of the teachers and administration are armed and has zero problems. Observe the Colleges/Universities in Utah and Colorado, students and faculty with CHL are authorized to carry and violent crime in the school area (campus and bordering area to campus) is down compared to Gun Free Zones (U.T. Austin, U.T DFW Metro area, Texas A&M Bryan).

Soldiers at Ft Hood not allowed to carry arms (gun free zone) by Army policy, killed and maimed/wounded by disgruntled Army Major. How many did the major kill and wound before anyone authorized to carry a gun arrived to stop him?

I realize that there are places in the hospital where being an armed patient would be a hindrance. Please provide a lockbox with a plastic key for the patient. The patient can go to the bathroom or dressing room to insert their handgun into the lockbox. Provide for the patient to keep it with them or store it at the department reception desk with ID (Texas Driver’s License, CHL, etc.).

What are your current procedures for a CHL person that walks into the emergency room with a problem, or someone that is brought in by ambulance?

This is a statement by the mother (Holly Adams) of one of the Virginia Tech Students (Leslie Sherman) that was murdered at the Virginia Tech massacre. “Speaking for myself, I would give anything if someone on campus; a professor, one of the trained military or guardsman taking classes or another student could have saved my daughter by shooting Cho before he killed our loved ones. Because professors, staff and students are precluded from protecting themselves on campus, Cho, a student at Virginia Tech himself, was able to simply walk on campus and go on a killing rampage with no worry that anyone would stop him.

I ask a simple question: Would the other parents of victims be forever thankful if a professor or student was allowed to carry a firearm and could have stopped Seung-Hui Cho before their loved one was injured or killed? I would be. I also suspect that the tragedy may not have occurred at all if Cho knew that either faculty members or students were permitted to carry their own weapons on campus. Cho took his own life before campus police were able to reach him and put a stop to his killing spree.”

Allow hospital staff to carry with a CHL. Hospital could require staff to have special training for carrying at work. Some of your staff would feel more secure while going about their daily routines, or when going to and from the parking lot after dark.

If a Concealed Handgun Licensed Person is required to leave their “arms” in their vehicle while in the hospital and their car is broken into. The hospital may be held liable for the theft, because the hospital refused to let the CHL Person carry where they had a lawful right to be. What if the person was robbed or assaulted in any way while not allowed to carry.

Big deterrent for some problems. Put a sign on the doors, “CHL’s Welcome.”

Suggestion: Add an e-mail address and text messaging numbers to your contact page for appointments and other contact information.

Best regards

[RPBrown]

Although I like your letter, you are waisting your time. These bureucrats are all the same. They think that they know what is best for everyone and that with this sign, all guns will magically be stopped at the door.

[jmorris]

Although I like your letter, you are waisting your time. These bureucrats are all the same. They think that they know what is best for everyone and that with this sign, all guns will magically be stopped at the door.

Or worse, they did it because their lawyers said to.

[MeMelYup]

it may be a wast of time but at least I will have tried.

[LabRat]

Agree with previous posters.

If they put up a valid, legal sign, they already know what you're telling them.

Letter is too long and would be round filed asap.

Make your letter short; state you cannot use their business or spend your money there due to concern for your safety as they have disarmed law abiding citizens.

Tell them to notify you if they change the policy. Tell them you will notify the community who value their safety and ask the community to take their money elsewhere.

Sign it, date it, include your address.

Put it in terms they understand: money loss, image tarnished; safety compromised.

That's the language they speak...you will be heard. Maybe no action will come, but they'll hear you.

LabRat

[RPBrown]

Although I like your letter, you are waisting your time. These bureucrats are all the same. They think that they know what is best for everyone and that with this sign, all guns will magically be stopped at the door.

Or worse, they did it because their lawyers said to.

Insurance agents, hospital administrators, and most (some exceptions; Charles) lawyers are all bureucrats

[BrianSW99]

I also agree with the above. It's definitely too long. I would take out the lengthy description of the process and requirements to get a CHL. They don't care. Some of your assertions would be difficult to backup with statistics and may not even be true, such as that CHL holders practice more than police and most go to the range monthly or every other month. My own experience both from people I know and the renewal CHL students I've had is that there is a fairly high percentage that don't get to a range very often or even at all since the last time they did the CHL qualification. I'm sure most of us on this forum do practice more often, but we have only a fraction of the total CHLs here.

Brian

[57Coastie]

The only thing I predict this letter or one like it (for example, one much more brief and therefore more likely to be read) might accomplish, is that it could wake up the Scott and White head office, or their lawyers. Then the out-of-date non-30.06 sign at all the entrances to the Scott and White clinic (not "hospital") my wife and I use would be changed to a good 30.06 sign.

Jim