Oct 19 2008
My First Time: To Carry a Gun on the Job
My First Time to Carry a Gun on the Job was illegal and unsanctioned, even by my boss who “suggested” that I might, by telling me that he often did.
We carried for personal protection. I don’t believe the phrase, “easier to get forgiven than to get permission,” but I was just looking out for myself. I had a part-time job working in the credit department of a major department store chain. They asked me to also do some “outside collections.” I found out this meant going out at night, between 6 pm and 9 pm, into the “bad” areas of Portsmouth, Virginia, where many of our “delinquent account” holders resided. 
The Assistant Credit Manager was my boss. He invited me to his house, where he showed my his gun collection, and the shop where he fabricated gun stocks and pistol grips. I bought a pistol, a snub-nose .38, and he made me a set of cherry wood grips. Very nice. He also filed down the trigger mechanism; I now had “protection” with a “hair-trigger” action. The year was 1969.
Not only was it illegal in the State of Virginia to “carry” concealed without a permit; it was against the Store Policy. I was also in the Navy at the time and Navy policy forbids having a civilian part-time job in which you carry a weapon. Something about government liability, I guess. But I was young and stupid and reckless. I guess not too reckless; for I had no intentions of being taken down in a bad neighborhood at night when I was “bill collecting.”
I learned a few safety measures, like parking under a street light and walking down the street–not on the sidewalks–until I came to the house I was seeking. I carried a flashlight too; it helped me in noticing when a door had bullet holes, so I would know to stand off to the side before knocking. Never had much trouble, though, and only had to “show” the weapon once: showing it was enough.
What a crazy job. I am fortunate to have survived.
