Tl;DR 'Concealed means concealed' doesn't mean anything at all if another CCW'er decides to be an asshole and out you to HR.So, as a bit of context I am a recently graduated college student in Georgia and have been working an internship for a large company in the western part of the state. A large part of my job is interacting with a variety of people coming and going from our campus, leaving campus myself, and spending some time outside of a traditional office environment, leading me to decide to concealed carry at all times. Unfortunately, the company maintains a 'soft' no-firearms policy that was communicated via a single line about possession of 'dangerous weapons' being prohibited on campus so I knew that choosing to carry was far from condoned; however, another document through our HR department said that possession of weapons was prohibited unless you were okay under state law so I believed that it was a 'don't ask, don't tell' type off situation. Compound all of this with the fact that I was assaulted last summer while on lunch break for the same company, but was disarmed because of a desire to strictly follow policy, and I believe my choice to carry becomes more clear. Finally, I carry a Springfield XDs with the 4" barrel in a tuckable WhiteHat holster at 3:30 with a polo shirt tucked into khakis. The pistol is extremely well concealed save for the two small black clips which no-one has even mentioned in 5 months of carrying.Well, this morning I learned a valuable lesson about what level of concealment needs to be maintained in a questionable work environment. After using a urinal in the main restroom I was approached out of the blue by one of the production line supervisors (for context, our supervisors are only a level above a basic machine operator while I work in engineering, this guy was in no way my boss or superior) and questioned as to "what that thing on my belt was". I was absolutely floored to be questioned in the bathroom and assumed that he had no idea what he was looking at so I said it was private and promptly returned to my office, assuming that some sort of medical device was implied and thinking that being vague would de-escalate the situation. A few minutes later the supervisor enters my office and starts to demand that what I was doing was illegal and that he would 'walk me to the guard house' so I could disarm myself. Being that my office is inbetween our two HR reps I attempted to quietly explain to him that I was licensed and in no way breaking the law, prompting him to continue to demand that I walk with him to the guard shack. I offered to show him my license but he insisted that he had one and knew 'what those little black clips were' and promptly walked directly to our HR rep.After being approached by our HR rep some 2 minutes later I printed out the policy concerning the state-law exemption but was told to sit tight until further notice. 10 minutes after that our head of HR entered my office with our 2 heads of security and I knew that the game was up. They immediately corned me and demanded that they would be disarming me for everyone's safety, something I told them would not be happening because I had no desire to be shot in the ass by someone attempting to manipulate a firearm they were unfamiliar with. In a particularly interesting turn one of the security heads attempted to strong arm me by demanding that he was a retired cop who was more than qualified to handle my pistol, which again prompted me to tell them that I was more than happy to leave campus but my weapon would stay secure and no one would be touching me. I informed them that I was a licensed carrier who had been called out by an employee so I was in no way a threat to anyone and not mad at all, eventually causing them to agree to simply escort me out of the building. On the way out I mentioned that I was certainly not the only owner of 'little black clips' in the building to which he replied that he was always happy to know there were law abiding folks around him, I was just the poor bastard who got popped. Two hours later I received the call that I had been terminated but thanks for playing. The kicker? The HR ladies thanked me for being such a great employee and always being happy to help them carry office supplies, move furniture, or fix computers. They thanked me for being polite throughout the whole process which really just put the shit icing on the shit cake.Lessons to learn from my own inadequacies:1) Concealed means concealed but the rules are the rules, break them and pay the piper. I suppose that I knew this was a possible reality but had always hoped that being close with the HR department and having a loophole on my side would save my skin. Know this now and forever: corporate does not need you and does not love you, if you're not the top boss then you're replaceable.2)The idea of belt clips being minimalist enough to succeed only survives so long as the people who know what they are play along. I have noticed multiple people that carry, especially in our engineering and IT departments, but would never say anything because I am not a gaping asshole. The mouth breather that outed me knew what they were but decided to dick me hard, hindsight being what it is pocket carry or a belly band would probably be my choice if I had to return.3)Never let anyone handle your firearm unless compelled by an officer of the law or at a range. The guys from security wanted to remove a loaded firearm from its secure holster in a 8'x10' office room during a high stress encounter, even being fired on the spot isn't worth letting someone shoot you in the leg or ND into a fellow employee. Some cops also apparently retain the idea that they are god even once they remove a badge, but that's neither here nor there.4)Have a good response ready for when you get called out, if I had been more clear and said that it was a medical device or something then maybe some of this could have been avoided. However, the supervisor seemed to have thoroughly 'made' me so I'm not sure what good it would have done. I am not sure why this guy decided to throw a fit about me but it probably has something to do with my department being responsible for inspecting and maintaining environmental policies for his line. I have had to report his department several times for routine haz waste violations so I'm sure a chance to screw the young guy telling him what to do was downright cathartic for him. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2aetvIr
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