Should Manatee County employees be able to carry guns? Officials debate changing rule
Manatee County’s 1,900-employee workforce may soon be free to carry firearms on the job.
County staff have been asked to begin researching a policy change that would allow employees to arm themselves while at work. Commissioner James Satcher raised the issue Tuesday afternoon during a public meeting.
“We see that gun-free zones should be called criminal empowerment zones. They basically just let the bad guys know exactly where to target,” Satcher said. “I feel we have a similar situation right now with 2,000 county employees that are not allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights while they’re at work.”
“If something happened to an employee, I’d have trouble sleeping afterward,” he added.
Residents and visitors with the proper license may bring firearms on county property, but county employees are prohibited from carrying guns on the job. Gov. Ron DeSantis has also expressed support for constitutional carry, which would allow most people to carry a firearm without a government permit.
Satcher’s proposal set the board off on a two-hour debate, as some commissioners rallied behind the idea and others questioned why the policy had been suggested in the first place.
“I’m a very pro-Second Amendment girl. I own guns … so I don’t have a problem with that, but I want to make sure, from a business standpoint, that we’re making the right decision, as well,” said Commissioner Misty Servia, who asked staff to explore how the policy change could affect public safety, employee recruitment and insurance costs.
Instead of giving employees the opportunity to carry firearms, Commissioner Reggie Bellamy offered a comprehensive review of the county’s security systems. Bellamy was the only one to vote against moving forward with an updated gun policy.
“We do want to make sure everyone is protected, but we can take different angles to make sure those protections are in place,” said Bellamy, explaining that he was concerned about a scenario where a county employee shoots a coworker or a member of the public.
Other board members accused their colleagues of stalling to delay the policy update.
“I think we make a mountain out of a molehill sometimes,” said Commissioner Vanessa Baugh. “This is only to direct the county administrator and the county attorney to look into this and come back with a policy change. It would still need a vote.”
County Attorney Bill Clague and County Administrator Scott Hopes agreed that the request would take several weeks to research. Hopes, who previously served on the School Board of Manatee County, said there is “tremendous value” in considering the rule change.
“I was the chairman of the school board during the (Parkland) shooting event and that weighed on me pretty heavy,” Hopes said. “I reviewed the entire video footage of that shooting … You are constantly reminded throughout the duration of that event that if any one of those employees had been armed, many, many lives would have been saved,”
Commissioners voted to direct staff to gather information and debate the issue during a public meeting on July 26.
“Let’s press the pause button, get the facts and come back and make a decision that’s right for Manatee County,” Servia said.
