Wits’ End

Workplace violence: A survey of emergency physicians in the State of Michigan | Annals of Emergency Medicine | 2.15.05

Results …Forty-two percent of emergency physicians sought various forms of protection as a result of the direct or perceived violence, including obtaining a gun (18%), knife (20%), concealed weapon license (13%), mace (7%), club (4%), or a security escort (31%).

Conclusion Work-related violence exposure is not uncommon in EDs. Many emergency physicians are concerned about the violence and are taking measures, including personal protection, in response to the fear.

Mordan Claude | Beyond This Horizon | 1942

Well, in the first place an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. That’s a personal evaluation only. But gunfighting has a strong biological use. We do not have enough things that kill off the weak and the stupid these days. But to stay alive as an armed citizen, a man, has to be either quick with his wits or with his hands, preferably both. It’s a good thing.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

A study about wits’ end?