We have a major gun problem is this country. The solution starts with a conversation about universal background checks for all owners of firearms, mandatory waiting periods, and bans on assault weapons.
Eliminating all guns, however, isn’t the solution. Our gun culture is too well ingrained in who we are as a nation—a nation founded by armed revolution, a “well regulated Militia,” and “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” and John Wayne.
But do you know what else isn’t part of the solution? MORE FREAKIN’ GUNS!
Our President has called both for arming teachers and paying them bonuses for receiving gun training. I will not permit my children in a school in which any teacher has a firearm in her desk or strapped to his hip, no matter how much training they have. And while more pay for teachers is a wonderful idea, let’s find a reason to provide it other than John McClane’ing them.
I do not want guns around the American workplace, period. Whether it’s a school, office, warehouse, or whatever. Guns do not belong at or near work (even if my state believes differently about employees’ parked cars on your property).
More guns = less safety. According to a study evaluating the New York Police Department’s firearm training, the average hit rate when suspects did not return fire was only 30 percent; it dropped to 18 percent during gunfights. We cannot, and should not, expect teachers (or our employees) to do better than trained police officers. God knows I don’t want my children (or co-workers) to be amidst the four out of five bullets that do not hit their intended target.
I know this issue is one about which people feel passionately. And I know your opinion may differ. What I also know, however, is that continued political polarization will not solve this problem. And it very much needs to be solved, before any more kids die.
Here’s what I read this week:
Discrimination
- One employer just slayed both the Ebola Monster and an ADA lawsuit — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- Eighth Circuit: Employer May “Elaborate” on Explanation for Termination During Litigation — via Employment Law Lookout
- H.R. 620: The Defense Lawyers Full Employment Act — via Understanding the ADA
- Sexual Harassment 2.1: Keep Up, We Are Moving Fast… — via Currents
- I have an excuse to write about Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. — via Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
- Sexual Harassment Claims Have Fallen Among Young White Women, but Not Older Women or Black Women — via Harvard Business Review
- Leap of Faith: Trusting Your Employees Enough to Go Virtual — via HR Hero Line
- New York Times Fires Employee for Bad Tweets on the Day it Announced Her Hiring — via Next Blog
- The Power of Data: A Workplace Trust Case Study — via Blogging4Jobs
- US AG creates a new ‘Cybersecurity Task Force’ — via Engadget
- Cybersecurity training a top priority for CISOs, report says — via HR Dive
- NIST Issues Draft Report: Status of International Cybersecurity Standardizations for the Internet of Things — via Ride The Lightning
- The Ultimate Guide to Handling Office Bullies — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
- Study: Workplace bullying rampant in the U.S. — via Ragan.com
- When a prominent employee is fired for creating an “abusive work environment” — via Minding the Workplace
- Episode 15 – Not Entirely Peaches and Cream — via Hostile Work Environment Podcast
- In-House Counsel Survey Results: Increased Risk for Trade Secrets — via Trading Secrets
- How Much is Too Much When It Comes to Relationships with Your Direct Reports? — via Fistful of Talent
- Do You Fire Him? The Answer is Harder Than You Think. — via Work Place Coach Blog News
- What Is Succession Planning and Why Is It Important? — via ERC Insights Blog
- FLSA Tip Regulations Facing Repeal By DOL — via The Employment Brief
- To Pay or Not to Pay (Interns): That is the Question — via Intown Employer
- Paid Parental Leave: Equal Time Off For Moms And Dads? — via The Labor Dish
- Is it time to change how we talk about the FMLA? — via HR Dive
- NLRB Smells Something Rotten, Seeks Input on Major Misclassification Decision — via Who Is My Employee?
- NLRB Seeking Input on Misclassification Unfair Labor Practice — via Workplace Prof Blog
- Do Over? NLRB May Have To Revisit Its Stance On Joint-Employers Due To Alleged Conflict — via Labor Relations
- Disney is using ‘tax cut bonus’ to try to force union workers to accept low pay — via Workplace Fairness
- A Strike On Strikes? — via Labor Relations Institute
- Trump’s Worker Safety & Health Budget Again Undermines Worker Safety & Health — via Workplace Fairness
- District Court Upholds OSHA’s Refusal to Permit Compliance Officer’s Testimony in Personal Injury Case — via Workplace Safety and Environmental Law Alert Blog
- New OSHA Tree Care Publication — via OSHA Law Blog
- My boss refused to call an ambulance for an injured coworker — via Ask a Manager