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State employee can't bring gun to work
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
State employee can't bring gun to work Activists want to change that Sherrie Buzby/The Arizona Republic Shannon Flynn, an Arizona Department of Revenue employee, wants the right to carry a handgun to work. She says her father, in prison for molesting her, is the most obvious danger she faces. He could be paroled in six months to two years. By Charles KellyThe Arizona RepublicMarch 31, 2002 Shannon Flynn, 24, packs a 9mm pistol almost everywhere except for the last few hundred feet to her workplace at the Arizona Department of Revenue near the state Capitol. Her bosses make Flynn, a revenue collector, leave the gun in her car. She thinks she should be allowed to carry it in and check it with security guards. The state bans gun-carrying by employees, except police officers and other authorized persons, inside state buildings.It does so, state spokespeople say, to prevent accidents, to head off the possibility that employees might attack each other with guns, and to keep the state from being legally liable if someone were to be hurt with a gun.Flynn wants the extra protection for personal reasons, but her cause has been taken up by Valley gun activists who believe state workers could defend themselves better if they weren't hindered by gun policies.In addition to concerns about street dangers, Flynn is worried about her father, who is serving time in Arizona State Prison for molesting her.He will be locked up for at least another six months, possibly as long as two years. But Flynn says he will get out some day, and she will need protection then just as she needs it now in the shabby neighborhood that surrounds her office. Her father, Darrell Wayne Vanderwaal (usually referred to in records as Vanderwall), used to threaten her when he was forcing her to have sex, she said."He'd say, 'If you're going to do what I think you're going to do, if you put me away, I'm not going to have anything to live for when I get out. You'd better watch your back.' "That's what she has been doing. She has a concealed-carry permit and arms herself whenever possible with a pistol, Chemical Mace and a knife with a three-inch blade. She can carry the Mace and the knife into work, but Revenue Department head Mark Killian has told employees they can't carry a gun into the building. In fact, that's the policy in all state buildings, said Kathe Cochrane, a spokeswoman for Department of Administration head Elliott Hibbs."It's a safety issue," Cochrane said.The state's policy is similar to that of cities such as Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, which don't let employees take guns to work unless specifically authorized. Glendale has a similar rule, except that employees can check guns in buildings where a gun locker is readily available. Maricopa County says an employee in "unique circumstances" could ask to carry a gun to work. But a county spokesman said none has asked, as far as he knows. Revenue Department spokesman Jeff Kros said the department will let Flynn park in a nearby limited-access garage and give her an armed escort, a Capitol policeman, to and from her car. But Flynn calls the garage insecure and said she feels safer parking where people can see her.And she would prefer defending herself with her gun rather than taking chances with armed guards."In a line of fire, I'm not sure I would want to have them with me. They have families," Flynn said. "I want to be responsible for myself."The specific cause of her concern is her father, a former pest-control company employee who stands 6-foot-2-inches and weighs 200 pounds. Vanderwaal, 55, pleaded guilty in 1989 to attempted molestation of a child and "second-degree dangerous crime against children." Court records say he admitted he started molesting Flynn when she was 10.Originally, he was put on probation but was uncooperative with probation officers. He was sent to prison in 1996 after Flynn turned 17, moved out of the home and told police he repeatedly forced her to have sexual intercourse with him while he was on probation. He is now serving an eight-year term and is scheduled to be released in 2004. Vanderwaal could be paroled as early as six months from now but has been denied parole, or failed to appear for his hearing, several times. On March 7, he failed to appear.Though Flynn said he is the most obvious danger she faces, she is also concerned about walking from her car to her office through a seedy neighborhood. There's no reason she shouldn't be able to pack a gun under those circumstances, said Rick DeStephens, a gun advocate who helped organize a protest on Flynn's behalf and plans more protests. "It's an Unarmed Victim Zone," said DeStephens, who is vice president of Brassroots, a gun-rights advocacy group. "Elliott Hibbs has created a safe working environment for criminals."Flynn believes she has a right to self-defense. But she thinks many of her co-workers are worried about her. Perhaps, she said, they don't understand she just wants to leave her gun with security guards, not carry it to her desk."It's created a horrible working environment for me," she said. "They look at me differently." http://arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0331guncase31.html
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