My father had a scheduled surgery recently, and I was back and forth to the hospital for days. On the first day during the surgery, our family was waiting at the hospital until we got word that everything went well (which it did).
While waiting, I brought my laptop and figured that I could get tons of work done while sitting around for hours with nothing to do. So, I powered up my laptop and connected to the hospital’s WiFi system. I first went to Facebook and Gmail to catch up on a few things, and then I said “Ok Brandon, no more distractions…let’s get to work done!”
Off I went to concealednation.org when BAM, FIREWALLED!
We’re sorry, but the website you are trying to view falls into the following category that is not accessible through our internet access:
*WEAPONS*
Dammit, hospital. If my father wasn’t currently on an operating table in your building, I’d walk out and leave. I thought, maybe I can get to some other websites to get stuff done. Nope, not a single one. If it was a site remotely related to firearms or the 2nd Amendment, I was banished from access.
As a computer nerd, I know all about proxy servers, but that’s not the point. The point is; this gun free zone feels the need to block firearm-related websites from guests…but why? What possible advantage would the have by blocking these websites? It makes zero sense, and all this post is is a rant.
It’s also a funny coincidence that TTAG wrote an article on this very topic today. This means that access like this is probably blocked on a relatively large scale. Their story revolved around the Kohl’s internet service blocking firearm-related websites as well. Now, that’s a place that I can stop shopping at (I didn’t shop there anyway, but still). The hospital though, that’s a different story. The easy luxury isn’t there to simply walk away.
The best thing we can do is send them a polite message, so we can make them aware that there are people who do not agree with their policy.
Here is an example email that you can use (idea taken from TTAG):
Dear XXXXXX,
I was recently made aware that someone tried accessing the website www.concealednation.org while using your free WiFi network. The access to this website was immediately denied.
The website that was trying to be accessed, Concealed Nation, is a website that is dedicated to promoting the importance of responsible concealed carry. They teach responsibility and safety with firearms, and provide other great content for responsible gun owners across the country.
The website in no way promotes anything illegal, and it is because of this that I respectfully ask that you review your current policies that ban any firearm-related websites. If you cannot accommodate this request, I ask that you please provide me with an official explanation as to why this policy is in place.
Thank you for your time.
