Looks like we have a test subject on carrying past sign.

[Pain103]

 DCS worker left his piece in a bag and a kid found it.

 

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/local-news/child-finds-gun-in-bag-at-dcs-in-lebanon

[martinjd]

If you are going to carry a gun you need to be responsible. If you are going to carry where it is posted otherwise then you better not leave it unattended or at least not where someone can find it. If there are children in the building on a regular basis, as in the Department of Child Services, I think you would have to be even more cautious. There are probably some individuals working there as well that would love nothing more than to find a gun in someone's cubicle and see a gun owner get fired. This could have ended up much worse.

Edited January 8, 2016 by martinjd

[Oh Shoot]

 DCS worker left his piece in a bag and a kid found it.

 

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/local-news/child-finds-gun-in-bag-at-dcs-in-lebanon

 

Well, sounds like he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on, so unless he claims the signs weren't statutorily compliant I don't see any test there.

 

The further test we really don't know about is whether he'll also lose his carry permit as it calls for in 39-17-1352 and whether it is suspended or revoked entirely. And good chance we'll never be able to find out.

 

- OS

Edited January 8, 2016 by Oh Shoot

[m16ty]

Well it's one thing to get caught carrying past a sign with the gun secured on your person, it's a whole different deal to leave it lying around where a child can get ahold of it.

 

I suspect he'd still be in hot water even if the place wasn't posted.

[DaveTN]

He’s lucky he was charged with carrying past a sign and not reckless endangerment. Which he could still be charged with should he decide to fight this. They are going after his job, so this will probably end in a plea.

[JayC]

I'm willing to bet there are entry points in that building not properly posted.  But Dave is right they'll likely start tacking on charges if he tries to fight the charge...  Hopefully the DA will agree to drop charges if he agrees not to fight the termination.

[Just2Honor]

Don't think it will be a "test" unless he takes it to court and pleads not guilty due to improperly posted.   He'll have to take it all the way up the ladder.

 

Me, personally, I don't care how they post or what language they use.  I don't enter unless absolutely necessary (unarmed of course)  I don't spend my money in private businesses that post. 

[Mike.357]

not smart on his part.  No doubt he will lose his job at minimum.

 

But it does bring me to something else. Why did the ten year old handle the pistol?  This comes back at a complete lack of gun safety education.  Might have been the first gun the 10 year old handled. It might have been the first time the kid ever saw a gun before.  I can about guarantee that the two boys who live here would have never touched it, much less gone into some one else's property to grab the thing.  Those two boys have gun safety education, they are not fascinated by them.  It would have been a non-issue.

[TripleDigitRide]

He didn't just carry past a sign, he carried past a sign posted on a government building. This makes it a bigger issue than carrying past a sign at your local mall.

[300winmag]

The fine is the same for carrying past a sign on a government building just like carrying past a sign on private property.  Both are a misdemeanor 500 dollar fine.  You can carry in state and local government buildings if there is not a sign.

 

We just need to get this sign criminal charge removed during this legislative session.  Any bill in the works?

[JReedEsq]

Well it's one thing to get caught carrying past a sign with the gun secured on your person, it's a whole different deal to leave it lying around where a child can get ahold of it.

 

I suspect he'd still be in hot water even if the place wasn't posted.

 

Absolutely.  Aside from the legal issue, this is a personal responsibility problem  and a problem with off-body carry.  Knowing the kind of people that they deal with on a regular basis, I am not surprised to see someone working with DCS carrying but this was beyond irresponsible.   To me this is really an issue of poor judgment more than a firearms or 2nd Amendment issue.  I guarantee that there are kids in and out of that DCS office who have been removed from and/or exposed to some really bad situations that could lead to poor decision-making ability to say the least....

Edited January 8, 2016 by JReedEsq

[A.J. Holst]

Off body carry = greater responsibility for the owner to ensure firearm security

[MP5_Rizzo]

not smart on his part.  No doubt he will lose his job at minimum.

 

But it does bring me to something else. Why did the ten year old handle the pistol?  This comes back to a complete lack of gun safety education.  Might have been the first gun the 10 year old handled. It might have been the first time the kid ever saw a gun before.

 

SHAZAM, ding, ding, ding, ding!!!     The Prez wants common sense gun laws, make firearm education and safety mandatory in the school system.  Firearm education at an early age does not produce criminals.  It's been my experience that it produces responsible people that respect and handle firearms.

[bersaguy]

He broke the law by taking it in there in the first place but to not have it in a locked container was as stupid as stupid can get. Evidently is was in the briefcase in plain open site for the 10 year old to see it that easy much less be able to just reach in and pick it up................ :shrug: :shrug:

[Fallguy]

He didn't just carry past a sign, he carried past a sign posted on a government building. This makes it a bigger issue than carrying past a sign at your local mall.

 

How is it a bigger issue?

[dawgdoc]

Maybe we shouldn't automatically assume he was irresponsible for having the gun in a briefcase or bag (the news story calls it both).  He may have been neglectful, but not necessarily irresponsible.  If he routinely carried it daily in that bag to that building, I would say he might be irresponsible.  But if had carried the gun in that bag somewhere else the day before and forgot it was in there before going to work, I would just call it neglectful (and very unlucky).  

 

It could be no different than those people caught at airport security with a gun in a carry-on bag.  Some say that you shouldn't carry a gun that way if you can forget such a thing, but I try to give most otherwise honest people some benefit of the doubt.  I would only call it irresponsible if he routinely carried this way and just assumed it would be safe.

 

I feel sorry for the guy, because the kid is just as much to blame.  He should just know better than to stick his hand in someone else's bag no matter how interesting the stuff that he sees in there.  I see many kids who come in with their parents.  Some just sit quietly in the chair, and others are roaming around the exam room, opening drawers, grabbing things that shouldn't be grabbed.  We have a model of an infected ear that has a gel-like blob in the ear canal; one day a kid pried it out and put it in his mouth because he "thought it was candy."  Sometimes you can blame how they are raised, but some are just stupid.  You have to wonder how some of these kids reach adulthood.  

[martinjd]

"I feel sorry for the guy, because the kid is just as much to blame. "

 

I have to disagree. The kid is just that, a kid, and that is what they do. Some might say well my kid wouldn't or that is not the way I raised my kid but kids do things and when you ask them why they say "I don't know". I was raised "right" but I still did stupid things and it is simply by the grace of God that I made it to adulthood.

Edited January 11, 2016 by martinjd

[Titansfan]

I work at DCS (Dresden Office), only situation we've had was a foster parent (whom was a police officer, but not an Officer in Weakley County) had his service weapon on him during a meeting.  There was a fuss about the matter, I don't recall what ever happened.

 

DCS Youth Development Centers, such as Woodland Hills in Nashville, Wilder in Somerville and Mountain View in Dandridge, on occasion will have THP come to the parking lots and do mass searches.