Too many corporate policies are just that. Rules and guidelines hung on the wall to scare us into believing order will be enforced. But if you're not going to ever fire the thing it's not a threat- it's just clutter.
So before you go putting a new policy in your workplace, here's a few questions you should ask...
1) How are you planning to enforce it? Where would a violation run into your established corrective action guidelines? If it's a termination-level offense you better say so up front. Or if a "3 strikes" system works better, that's fine too. But you better know or else your gun doesn't have any bullets and that's just decoration.
2) Who is going to enforce it? Someone has to be responsible to pull the trigger. Does this need a dispute resolution process? Or will some manager accountability do just fine? The point is if no one is holding the gun, once again, it's a decoration
3) Do you really need this one? Ask any gun collector and they can tell you; sometimes you really do need a specific gun for the job. You're probably not going bird hunting with a pistol nor would you skeet shoot with a sniper rifle. But then again, if you're just looking for basic home protection, one good shot gun should do. So before you go making a new policy ask yourself- "do we really need a specific one, or should we just point what we have in the right direction?"
Look, I'm all for responsible gun ownership. But Chekov is right- don't own it if you're not going to use it. And policies are no different. Having a bunch of them means nothing. But a few that you're good at using and aren't afraid to pull the trigger on are usually enough to protect you.
