Has anyone written a concealed carry policy yet? I have made a pros and cons list and to my suprise there are more pros in allowing concealed carry.... but not sure that will be my final recommendation. I am looking for other perspectives I may have missed. One of my biggest conerns about NOT allowing concealed carry is that it would need to be enforced. Who in your branch do you have enfore that??? I can't expect tellers, who are nervous about asking customers for ID, to confront a customer that comes in with a firearm.




Thank you,

You won't actually get that may options when you get down in the details of a policy. I sent a PM with examples. Here's a good link to some pertinent info. I'm not that good at setting up links in the forums yet, so you may have to cut & paste into a browser window.
https://www.ilbanker.com/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=336

You have time to review it all, too. IL State Police won't even start taking APPLICATIONs for concealed permits until 1/5/2014.

I attended a forum with a representative from the IDFPR regarding this topic. He mentioned the same concerns you expressed.

The main points I took from the discussion were to post the sign and treat each situation with the appropriate care and ease. My institution is based in Chicago so we have security officers who may enforce our policy. In a smaller, safer community you often do not have that. The teller has the right to turn down a transaction if you clearly state in your policy that no persons entering the premise with a concealed weapon may conduct banking business. That becomes a very gray issue (in my opinion). How do you know that's a gun in their pocket and not a banana? How does the teller approach that customer? To your point, customers are aggressive enough with respect to identification, what of weapons and the fear of your colleagues related to that.

My advice would be to us the state signs in the entrance window(s)/door(s) and at every other teller line. This way you are making it prominent you do not permit these weapons. Document instances when you know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a customer enters the branch with a concealed item. Track those instances and send a letter to the customer regarding their behavior and a copy of your policy language. Use canned language to indicate you know and respect their rights however policy and private enterprise rights under state law require them to adhere to the standards or transactions will not be accepted. I think that could remove the onus from the teller and (potentially) prevent a heated discussion.

The flip side is allow persons to carry. If you live in a "safe" area perhaps creating a policy and implementing it will be more costly and won't increase branch security. I think prohibition is prudent in high risk areas but outside those it seems excessive to implement a policy that is very difficult and passive aggressive to enforce.

acquiescent,

Why would a company choose to confront and alienate a group of customers that are guaranteed felony free ?

Do your signs prevent people who carry guns without a CC license from entering?

How can allowing lawful activity be more costly than hanging signs, maintaining guards, training staff, sending letters, and closing accounts ?

I have not been able to find any objective data that shows a benefit to barring lawful concealed carry via signs. If you have it, please share it here as I would definitely want to evaluate it.

Absent of such data supporting prohibition, there is a mountain of anecdotal evidence that no guns allowed signs may invite trouble.

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/ban...3ff5b2917.html?

Timely article on this matter...