Weapons in Doctors Offices

Attached a link to an article titled " Two dead, third person in hospital after shooting in suburban West Palm" reporting a fatal shooting which took place in the waiting room of a doctors office in West Palm Beach. The shooting occurred during what has been a particularly violent week in Palm Beach County. It was the county’s fifth homicide since Monday and the sixth overall in 2014. It was also the second time this week that local authorities have investigated a murder-suicide, and the third time in seven days that gunmen shot at other people, then killed themselves. As a physician and owner of a busy family medicine clinic I have encountered several patients who carried concealed weapons (handguns, knives) in my office which I discovered during a routine physical exam. I am a gun owner and concealed weapon permit holder myself, but I consider carrying a weapon in a doctors office as inappropriate and potentially dangerous. The fact remains that most healthcare professionals are unarmed and feel intimidated by a patient carrying a loaded weapon. According to Florida firearms regulations a carry license is valid everywhere other than in a few specially-defined areas which include airports, schools, universities, courthouses, establishments licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises,career centers, any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district and any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof Why should doctors office not be included in the long list of specially-defined prohibited areas"? Why should legislators enjoy the freedom of not being killed by gunfire but doctors should continue working under the threat of guns? Why do neither representatives of organized medicine nor legislators have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and denounce the NRA which blocks all reasonable gun safety measures? Meanwhile, I informed my patients that I do not permit the carrying of any kind of weapons in my office and do not care if my decision backfires. Yours Bernd