FORT WALTON BEACH — After one day, the Okaloosa County Health Department has removed signs that said firearms are prohibited in the building except when carried by law officers.
On Wednesday, staffers in an exam room discovered that a patient had a concealed firearm, according to an email Health Department Director Dr. Karen Chapman sent to employees about the incident.
The patient likely forgot to leave the weapon elsewhere, but cooperated and left the building, the email stated.
“The staff was upset and scared,” Chapman said Friday.
After discussing it with legal counsel, the department posted signs outside the building Thursday stating, “Firearms and weapons are prohibited in this facility unless in the possession of an on-duty law enforcement officer.”
The signs were up for one day until Florida Carry Inc., a gun rights group, contacted the Health Department and said it had received bad legal advice, Chapman said.
The department discussed the issue with its lawyer again and determined that people with a concealed weapons permit can bring a gun into the building.
“The law is the law,” Chapman said. “We will abide by the law.”
Patients bringing weapons to the Health Department isn’t common but it does happen, Chapman said. Her staff has seen patients with knives and guns.
“It’s a concern when you’re running a busy medical clinic and you have children around,” she said.
Anyone with a weapon who cannot produce a concealed weapons permit will be asked to leave and secure their weapon elsewhere, Chapman said. The incident is also written up as required by Health Department policy.
“We would request that if they don't mind leaving their weapons secured in their vehicles in the parking lot, that would be our preference,” Chapman said. “If they have a permit to bring in a weapon, I can’t tell them they can't bring it in.”
