"No Guns Allowed" Sign Startles Me

Trip to the Doctor

by Robert A. Waters

Today I drove my wife to a kidney specialist in the mid-sized city of Ocala, Florida.  This doctor was new to her, and after locating the place, I was surprised to see a huge “No Guns Allowed” decal on the entrance door.  My birthplace and hometown is a fairly conservative city filled with retirees, lots of transplants, and locals. (When Donald Trump ran for election in 2016, my wife and I saw literally thousands of Trump bumper stickers all over Ocala and Marion County, and exactly two Hillary Clinton bumper stickers.)

The unusual no-guns-allowed sign got me thinking: what kind of protective measures does the place have?  What if some maniac is angry enough with this doctor to come in with a gun and start blasting away?  He could kill everyone in the place within seconds.

People with concealed carry permits are the most law-abiding people on earth.  Their guns may be in holsters or in their pockets and no one ever knows.  In the church I attend, for example, out of 350-400 congregants, I personally know of 20 men and women who carry.  (There are probably more—I don’t know everyone there.)  Each Sunday, these carriers sit peacefully in their pews worshipping God.  Yet if someone were to threaten the church-goers, he would likely be met by a group of trained gun-owners.

So, sitting in the no-gun doctor’s office waiting while my wife saw the doctor, I looked around for signs of security.  I saw none.  Two clerks sat at desks signing patients in.  The waiting room had seats for about 25-30 people—a few patients sat waiting to be called.  I saw no video cameras (which are useless in stopping crimes, although helpful to cops in determining what happened after the fact) and no security guard.

I looked on my cellphone app and found the following case of an attack in a dentist’s office.

On February 19, 2019, Larry Seagroves, a permit holder, sat in the Sullivan County, Tennessee dental office of Dr. David Guy.  Several other patients were in the lobby while two clerks, including Kelly Weaver, worked behind the counter.

Suddenly, a man, later identified as Harry Weaver, entered and pointed a gun at his estranged wife, Kelly.  He fired, then aimed at the second clerk.

Seagroves explained in a court hearing what happened next.  “I got up,” he said, “spun around, and saw Mr. Weaver pointing his gun at Kelly and Sabrina, and I began firing.  I fired three times.”

Weaver went down.  Seagroves told the court that once he shot Weaver, “I looked for his gun immediately, and found it laying at my feet, and I kicked it down the hallway.”

Unfortunately, Kelly Weaver had been hit and died almost immediately.  Seagroves held Harry Weaver until deputies arrived.

Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy told reporters that the permit holder was a hero who saved many lives.  “[Seagroves] was flawless in his execution,” Cassidy said, “eliminating the threat, holding the threat down until law enforcement arrived.”

Back in the no-guns-allowed doctor’s lobby, I watched as my wife approached.  “Good news,” she said with a smile.  “Good news,” I agreed, helping her out the door.

As we drove away, I took one last glance at that large garish door decal.  I took my wife out for dinner and she told me how much she liked her new doctor.  “He’s very personable,” she said.  “We joked around a lot.  Oh yeah, he’s from Nigeria.  And he likes Diet Snapple just like I do.”

The restaurant didn’t have a no-guns-allowed sign and we had a great meal.


Please check out Guns and Self-Defense: 23 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival with Firearms.  Co-written with my son, Sim Waters, this book will keep you turning the pages.  It describes several accounts of concealed carry permit holders stopping deadly attacks.