Guns and Nursing Homes
A group in South Florida wants to ban guns from hospitals and nursing homes by trying to enforce a list of weapon free safety zones that already includes schools, government buildings, and athletic events. The group is stressing that the environments in these areas are emotionally charged and adding a firearm into them would be a bad idea for patients and for the individuals inside the hospitals.
Yet the NRA is against any time of legislation like this one because their defense that just because it is a medically charged environment, does not make the area less susceptible to crime and danger. They also state that individuals should have the right to defend themselves in any environment. The main concern is wondering with all the emotional intensity a hospital and nursing home bring, if carrying firearms would compromise the safety of patients, doctors and other people in the hospital. It would be interesting to research whether or not allowing people to carry gun’s has played apart in violence in nursing home or how the patients feel about it.
The issue that should be at the forefront of concern should be the standard of care for the patients in nursing homes and hospitals. Will the presence of firearms be a distraction for staff and patients? Or is the fear unprecedented and the guns are actually a safety measure for an environment that is actually not staffed adequately with security personnel?
