ARES / RACES Gun craziness

EDIT: An appology was made in their newsletter:

http://coares.org/bulletin/COARES_Bulletin_March_2015.pdf

In Central Ohio ARES/RACES things are getting fired up including suggestions in a ARES newsletter that if your volunteers want to leave to shoot them in their leg.

Here is a quote from their newsletter located here on page 5

DO NOT LET YOUR STAFF JUST UP AND LEAVE! (shooting them in the leg can be very helpful here….) The team members (especially the new folks) may feel like wandering away (even offering you their cell numbers) but this is en-tirely inappropriate. We do not want team members moving away from their established stations without being relieved of duty via net control and having a replacement on site before they depart. The exception is in the emergent medical care of someone. If you end up very distant from your event medical table (up in the stands caring for someone with a seizure), advise NC that you are off station. We will consider sending a second team in there temporarily until your team is back online.

One has to wonder why ARES / RACES members should ever need to be armed? In the event of a “real emergency” they just become citizen aid and are *NEVER* given any sort of police powers let alone why would they need a gun to do their volunteer work?

When approached about the matter the Medical Director of the Arnold Expo responded
with this gem:

As the Executive Medical Director of the world’s largest multisport athletic event, and as a commissioned deputy sheriff, let me say that I support ARRL’s stance on weapons and I personally support such responsible people carrying weapons at my events.  However, there are other legal restrictions that are event and site specific that may preclude any single individual’s rights in that regard. I would be delighted to have my amateur radio operators armed if that was their individual preference.

This is just asking for trouble and is another example of why RACES/ARES folks never
become involved in real emergencies.

As usual we welcome user submitted article ideas etc, please contact us thru new submission in the menu at the top.