Should guns be banned in hospitals?

[spin]

82. Very true. Criminals do break the law all the time...

The state law says that in Florida you have to have a concealed carry permit to carry in public. Honest people follow that law, those who break the law (criminals) do not.

Therefore if you make a hospital a gun free zone the honest people who follow the law (such as doctors, nurses and other employees) will not bring firearms into the hospital or hospital parking lot. However criminals or criminally insane people will continue to do so.

The nurse I mentioned in my post will now have to worry about going to and from the parking lot as she has reason to fear an attack as has happened to several of her fellow co-workers.

You mentioned gun shows as a place to buy firearms without a background check. Actually in Florida NO private sale requires an NICS check. I personally would like to see this changed unlike many NRA members.

You also asked where I got my information and suggest that I obtained it from "one of those gun-nut websites".

First, I am a Floridian with a concealed weapons permit and I have had one for over fifteen years. If you are curious about the laws in Florida I suggest you check out the state web site on the subject at:

http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/weapons/index.html

On that page you will also find a link labeled Statistical Reports. If you click on it you will find a number of links one of which is Monthly Summary Report [PDF] http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/stats/cw_monthly.pdf which is where I obtained my statistics. This link was provided in my original reply.

You can find further info on violence and crime occurring in hospitals at these links:

"Emergency Department Violence" http://www.acep.org/content.aspx?id=21830

Workplace Violence: A Survey of Emergency
Physicians in the State of Michigan
http://www.med.umich.edu/em/education/medstudents/workplace%20violence.pdf