Pizza Hut Employee Suspended for Defending Self
by Big Dog on Mar 30, 2008 at 14:25 General
A Pizza Hut employee from Iowa was suspended “until police sort out the details” in a shooting incident. The details are pretty straight forward. A woman, an accomplice of a criminal, placed a order for a pizza. The delivery man, James William Spiers, attempted to deliver the pizza when he was confronted by a man who put a gun to his head. Spiers, who has a permit to carry a handgun, grabbed the assailant’s gun and pulled his own weapon. The attacker was shot three times.
When police arrived at the scene Spiers placed his hands in the air and dropped to his knees and told the police that he had both weapons in his pockets. So far no charges have been filed but Pizza Hut has suspended Spiers. The company has a policy against carrying a weapon, even for those who have a permit to carry one. Pizza Hut believes that denying its employees the right to self defense is the safest policy. As this incident shows, a no weapons policy kept Spiers from being attacked…
I understand that Pizza Hut is allowed to make policy and if Spiers broke the rule the company has a right to fire him. I also believe that the company has a duty to keep its employees safe. It appears that Spiers was the only one interested in his personal safety.
I rarely buy pizza from Pizza Hut. If they end up firing Spiers I will never buy anything from them and I encourage all Second Amendment supporters to do the same.
Pizza Hut officials would have felt better if Spiers had been shot to death so long as he was not carrying a handgun. One of his fellow employees stated:
Howe’s co-worker Kimberly Babis said Spiers should not have been armed on the job, no matter what the safety concern. She said most drivers have the right to refuse a delivery if they feel it could pose danger.
“I don’t understand why the pizza delivery guy had a gun,” she said. “And even if the other guy was trying to rob him, it’s a measly 20 bucks. At least that’s how much our drivers have on them.” Des Moines Register
This attitude is what allows students at colleges like Virginia Tech to become victims. It is the attitude that allows patrons of malls to become victims and it is the attitude that allows crime to blossom. Just submit and they will leave you alone.
James Spiers is alive today because he refused to be a victim. If he loses a job over this then at least he is still alive to find another job.
Tags: crime, pizza hut, Second Amendment, victim
If I were in charge of Pizza Slut’s weapons policy for their delivery drivers, I’d make it mandatory for them to be armed. Furthermore, I’d publicize the fact that my drivers were licensed to carry handguns and were armed. There are those who order pizza simply to rob the delivery personnel. I should think robbers would avoid ordering from restaurants whose drivers are encouraged to defend themselves.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080329/NEWS/803290329/1001/NEWS#gslPageReturn
I’m with Patsy. I think the quote about it being a measly 20 buck is stupid. People have been shot and killed over far less than 20 bucks and who’s to say that the man would not have killed the delivery man after taking his money to keep him from being a witness. Pizza Hut joins the ranks of stupid employers and companies in my mind…
Thank you Schatzee. We own an aircraft maintenance business, with 38 employees. We send our technicians on the road to repair aircraft that are grounded (AOG)in need of repairs. I wouldn’t dream of putting our guys on the road to lovely destinations like Detroit (last week) without a licensed weapon.
We had $12,000 in tooling stolen in Monterrey Mexico, and of course had no way to recover them. UPS insurance is worthless, they deny every claim. What a scam.
We sent a crew to Oakland, CA, and because they flew out there, of course they couldn’t take a weapon. So what happens? The 3 of them came face to face with some gang bangers in San Francisco. Good thing they were young, big & strong, because those thugs meant to do them some harm. It’s a dangerous world we live in. We’re at war, the productive against the non-productive.
Americans should be able to go where they need to for business purposes without being subjected to dangerous criminals. But since we have raised an entire generation of spoiled-brat sociopaths, we have to defend ourselves from the violent.
A handgun is the great equalizer and the best way to prevent yourself from being killed. It’s also the best way to deter felons from perpetrating crimes in the first place. An armed citizenry is a polite society.
I can understand Pizza Hut’s policy; he was making to much money, and if he were killed “in the line of duty,” they could hire a cheaper delivery man.
Bastards.
I’m with you on this one, BD.
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Pizza Hut’s policy is just a “cover their ass” position to keep them out of lawsuits. They could give a rat’s a– about driver safety.
Good point, Duke. It’s obvious that Pizza Slut doesn’t care about the safety of its drivers, otherwise they’d be supporting him. They’d be saying publicly how glad they are that, although company policy prohibits weapons being carried by pizza delivery drivers, we are glad he thwarted the criminal and defended himself. Furthermore, they should have told the criminal element that they’d best forget about robbing their drivers, since this incident has shown them the error in their anti-weapons policy.
Well said Patsy – “an entire generation of spoiled-brat sociopaths.” I have never heard it said better. The entitlements and “everyone wins” philosophy have helped to develop a generation of “if I want it it’s mine and I don’t care how I have to get it” kids. They are completely without guile, empathy, and put no value on life. Your description – spot on!
That’s exactly right Schatzee. Look at the would-be killers who have been arrested in Virginia for the sniper firing at 6 vehicles. Local young boys, aged 19 & 16, probably just shooting at passing vehicles to cure their boredom.
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