railroads & firearms

[Anonymous]

What's the policy on carrying a firearm onboard a train? I was told company and not federal laws can prohibit weapons onboard. I know a few engineers and conductors who carry firearms while on duty. I've been meaning to get a conseal carry permit for my car, but was in the dark on laws surrounding railroads and weapons. I'm guessing most railroads frown on this, and I'm pretty sure my boss would be no different. Seems to me if your record was clean you would be able to get a permit in order to protect yourself, because we could potentially be sitting ducks if someone approaches with intent to harm. Thanks.

[mudchicken]

Unless you are a special agent, it's a violation of GCOR to bring ANY firearm on the property and definately not on a train or locomotive.

As a new hire, I had a party chief with a joint alcohol and firearms problem. Just before I hired on in the engineering department, he had gone to the field with a crew and tied-up at a motel about 150 miles from home. That night, he had his customary half a brewery vat full of beer. While watching the start of "Gunsmoke" on TV, lying flat on his back on the bed, he played quick-draw with Marshall Dillon. He shot his .44 magnum though his toes, through the TV set and the bullet lodged in the wall behind the concrete block wall behind the TV.

(1) The railroad was banned from lodging at that motel for a very long time.
(2) Gimpy the gunslinger hobbled through the rest of the week.
(3) Any of us sent to the field with "gimpy" always made sure that there were at least two rooms between us and him while on the road as long as he worked on the railroad. Despite multiple complaints to the office engineer and division engineer, the d*mned guns continued to be with him the rest of his railroad career.

Mudchicken

[wabash1]

It is against the rules to have a fire arm on company property. this dont mean that people dont carry them. I still have not figured out who they are scared of. the most that ever happened to me is someone throwing rocks. its like this if you go looking for trouble you will find it. Now excuse me while i go and clean my .38

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for clearing the air. One bad apple and.... but I guess they don't want to take any chances,even the most law abbiding workers could loose their cool and do something drastic in a non-drastic situation. Oh well, guess I'll have to leave my piece in the glove box and hope their is no life/death situation,because like the three words I live by YOU NEVER KNOW.Stay Safe.

[dekemd]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wabash1

It is against the rules to have a fire arm on company property. this dont mean that people dont carry them. I still have not figured out who they are scared of. the most that ever happened to me is someone throwing rocks. its like this if you go looking for trouble you will find it. Now excuse me while i go and clean my .38

Unfortunately some don't stop at throwing rocks. I've talked to several crewman who said they've been shot at, or at least had shots fired at their train, and some who had been assaulted while working on the ground. For the record, I don't advocate carring a gun against company policy ("legal disclaimer", cya). But let's face it, the railroad usually doesn't go through the best parts of town. While I probably wouldn't carry a gun, I would carry something I could use to defend myself with if I were working on the ground in the bad parts of town.

Something else to consider is where you are and where you're going to be. It may be legal to carry a gun in the town your home terminal is, but not legal in the town where you take your train. It gets even stickier when crossing state lines. Some states recognize and honor permits from other states, some do not. Not only do you risk losing your job, you could also go to jail.

Derrick

[JoeKoh]

what woories me for you guys is hunting season is coming up and hunters use railroads as trails.very unsafe.
stay safe
Joe

[mudchicken]

It's pheasant season here shortly and mudchicken will now have to crawl into his bunker while the annual Word War III re-inactment takes place out on the high plains.
Unfortunately bored hunters start shooting at insulators on signal poles and signs every year.

Dirty Bird

[mistercivil]

There's one guy in my student conductor class (we refer to him as Slapnuts), who was mystified when he was told a gun isn't standard equipment on a locomotive, and baling wire isn't for securing stowaways. I'm not joking.

[Trainnut484]

The state of Missouri is passing a law to have the right to carry a concealed weapon despite being vetoed by Governor Bob Holden. In Kansas, it's against the law to carry a concealed weapon. I don't know of any RR employees who carry one, but some areas here around Kansas City would change their mind.

Well. I found out after originally posting this, that a St Louis judge has issued a temporary injunction to block the new concealed-gun law from taking effect until the state's Supreme Court can determine if the measure is constitutional. The new concealed-gun law was to take effect today Oct. 11th.

Take care[:)]

Russell

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

It's pheasant season here shortly and mudchicken will now have to crawl into his bunker while the annual Word War III re-inactment takes place out on the high plains.
Unfortunately bored hunters start shooting at insulators on signal poles and signs every year.

Dirty Bird

Just as there are bad railfans there are bad hunters. It's unfortunate that some folks treat firearms (and cars for that matter) like toys. I am a hunter, albeit not a very good one, but I am embarrased by those folks that just go blasting everything around. It just give hunting a bad name. Sometimes I think it's safer to fly an airplane over bad guy land than to go hunting....at least you know wht to expect from them.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Trainnut484

The state of Missouri is passing a law to have the right to carry a concealed weapon despite being vetoed by Governor Bob Holden. In Kansas, it's against the law to carry a concealed weapon. I don't know of any RR employees who carry one, but some areas here around Kansas City would change their mind.

Well. I found out after originally posting this, that a St Louis judge has issued a temporary injunction to block the new concealed-gun law from taking effect until the state's Supreme Court can determine if the measure is constitutional. The new concealed-gun law was to take effect today Oct. 11th.

Take care[:)]

Russell

Nebraska keeps batting this one around. Has a lot of support out in Western part of state, not so much here in Eastern. Guess the old west is still alive and well. I know Texas carries, so maybe Ed can enlighten us on how it works down there?

Jen