EXCLUSIVE: Police guns banned in Pinellas courthouses

Lock it up. That's the message to police officers every time they enter a Pinellas County courthouse.

[Elisabeth]

Wow, that's the dumbest thing I've read in a long while. Hmmmm, so the police will follow the rules and be unarmed. Oh, and I'm SURE the criminals will too. <rolls eyes/>

[Jill]

This is retarded! The police need guns to defend the courthouses from these NUTCASES like the guy last week.

Stupid, stupid rule!

[Scott at USF]

Wow. That is easily the dumbest piece of government tape I have heard of in a long time.

[Marsharie]

Interesting, to say the least. An armed officer defends himself, as well as all the other individuals present at the courthouse that day by shooting and armed psycho and the result is to ban the presence of guns by these officers. Sounds as dumb as banning lysol.

[RKI]

ALL law enforcement officers in Pinellas County undergo similar background checks, psychological screening and firearm training/qualification. ALL law enforcement officers in Pinellas County are authorized to carry firearms in the performance of their duties. ALL law enforcment officers in Pinellas County are required, from time to time, to appear in court in the performance of their duty. ALL law enforcement officers in Pinellas County should be authorized to carry firearms into the courthouse when present for official purposes.

[Joshua]

Re: "I have the same concern my officers do. They're well trained and they’re a line of defense against society. Certain aspects of society want to turn bad."

IMO, police are a line of defense against criminals, not society in general. When police begin viewing honest, hard working, law abiding, tax paying citizens as criminals thats when the public trust is broken.

[Franswa]

We live in a violent society. Police are our last line of defense. These judges and politicians who make these idiotic rules are living in a fantasy world. You don't take guns away from the good guys.

[WTF]

I fail to see ANY LOGIC in taking away law enforcements ability to protect the public in a government building..... Am I missing something here?????

[Concerned citizen]

When the bad guy sees the uniform, he assumes the officer is armed and the uniform is the first one to take a shot. A cop in uniform should always have their gun, even out of their jurisdiction, they represent the law.

[ZmanInFl]

So lets see if I get this right, NOW because of some moron with his head somewhere it really doesn't belong I can be in the courthouse testifying against a known criminal and all of a sudden I can be shot because the guy took out the officers in the front due to them being unarmed.. And what is our reward for being law abiding citizens again, they want to know what happened to our society then they need to look in the mirror and stop taking away the ground rules that kept our society straight before, criminals have more right then we do and its getting worse..

[Sue]

Personally, I think they need to go a bit farther than the policy being discussed here. What they don't say is that Judges can carry in the courthouse in Pinellas County as can State Attorneys at least in the Criminal Complex...not sure about the other complexes but definetly there. I'm not sure we need anymore firearms floating around in here, especially if the police/sheriff/etc. is the party in the family law case....they'd better be placing some safeguards to know why the officer is in the courthouse and make sure they lock up the piece if they're the party in the case! I can just see it now, Joe policemen is going to his divorce hearing carrying, gets pissed about the final judgment and pulls his piece out and takes care of the wife (or husband can work either way). Law enforcement or not, they're human and put under enough stress people pop their corks and do some really stupid stuff.

[Steve]

wow, whoever came up with this idea is plain retarded. police officers should always carry a gun. there here to protect us.

[Sue]

ZmanInFl wrote:

So lets see if I get this right, NOW because of some moron with his head somewhere it really doesn't belong I can be in the courthouse testifying against a known criminal and all of a sudden I can be shot because the guy took out the officers in the front due to them being unarmed.. And what is our reward for being law abiding citizens again, they want to know what happened to our society then they need to look in the mirror and stop taking away the ground rules that kept our society straight before, criminals have more right then we do and its getting worse..

You need to read the article again, they don't want to disarm the sheriffs that protect the courthouse they want to disarm other law enforcement coming into the courthouse. I for one agree, what if Mr. policeman is there for his divorce hearing, is packing and goes off in the hearing and pulls it out. I don't know for sure but I'd hope that the deputies in that situation have someone aware that they have a hearing and are taking precautions to prevent such an issue. Judges are carrying if they wish to and a lot of them do. They aren't talking aobut disarming court security they're talking about controlling other law enforcement that come into the buildings and want to hold onto the piece. I agree that only the court security should be carrying.

[Monty]

Sue wrote:

<quoted text>
You need to read the article again, they don't want to disarm the sheriffs that protect the courthouse they want to disarm other law enforcement coming into the courthouse. I for one agree, what if Mr. policeman is there for his divorce hearing, is packing and goes off in the hearing and pulls it out. I don't know for sure but I'd hope that the deputies in that situation have someone aware that they have a hearing and are taking precautions to prevent such an issue. Judges are carrying if they wish to and a lot of them do. They aren't talking aobut disarming court security they're talking about controlling other law enforcement that come into the buildings and want to hold onto the piece. I agree that only the court security should be carrying.

So you don't trust the policeman getting the divorce in the building, but out on the streets where there is nobody to protect the citizens he encounters on his way to his car you have no issue?

[D Naumann]

YES THEY ARE DISARMING THE WRONG PEOPLE. YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAND THEM OVER TO THE CROOKS.

[Brian]

Sue wrote:

Personally, I think they need to go a bit farther than the policy being discussed here. What they don't say is that Judges can carry in the courthouse in Pinellas County as can State Attorneys at least in the Criminal Complex...not sure about the other complexes but definetly there. I'm not sure we need anymore firearms floating around in here, especially if the police/sheriff/etc. is the party in the family law case....they'd better be placing some safeguards to know why the officer is in the courthouse and make sure they lock up the piece if they're the party in the case! I can just see it now, Joe policemen is going to his divorce hearing carrying, gets pissed about the final judgment and pulls his piece out and takes care of the wife (or husband can work either way). Law enforcement or not, they're human and put under enough stress people pop their corks and do some really stupid stuff.

The thing about this is the fact that Joe Policeman is not allowed to pack heat in the courthouse when he is off duty. They can only carry when they are there as Law enforcement, doing law enforcement things.

[Patrick]

here we go again some little scared jerk without a clue about the real world making decisions based on no common scense or knowledge....

[Tampa Joe]

Stupid!!!
Yes we all know the thugs will also follow these rules......UNREAL!!!

[Tampa Joe]

Sue wrote:

<quoted text>
You need to read the article again, they don't want to disarm the sheriffs that protect the courthouse they want to disarm other law enforcement coming into the courthouse. I for one agree, what if Mr. policeman is there for his divorce hearing, is packing and goes off in the hearing and pulls it out. I don't know for sure but I'd hope that the deputies in that situation have someone aware that they have a hearing and are taking precautions to prevent such an issue. Judges are carrying if they wish to and a lot of them do. They aren't talking aobut disarming court security they're talking about controlling other law enforcement that come into the buildings and want to hold onto the piece. I agree that only the court security should be carrying.

You are out there!!
No LEO is going to risk his life/job for something like this, "pulling it out" Do you even know a cop......do you have one as a family member.....be for real!!

[FYA]

Take all the guns away from all law enforcement and law abiding citizens and see what happens!! These people can't see their nose in the mirrior, what short sighted idiots.and to add insult these are the people who let the criminals back on the streets.