Employees pack heat at aviation insurance agency

Employees of a Georgia aviation insurance company are now required to remain locked and loaded at work — a policy that the owner feels is right on target.

After employees get their weapons license, Lance Toland, owner of Lance Toland Associates Ltd., gives each employee a .410 revolver known as the “Judge.”

It's a policy Mr. Toland implemented over the past six months in response to violent crime in Atlanta and local break-ins near one of his offices, according to media reports.

“Everybody has one of these in their drawer or on their person. I would not want to come into one of my facilities,” Mr. Toland told WSB-TV station in Atlanta.

Mr. Toland owns offices in Atlanta, Griffin, Georgia, and St. Simons Island, Georgia, and sells aviation insurance worldwide, according to his website.

He said his 12 employees, most of whom are women, got their gun licenses three to four weeks after he implemented the policy, according to media reports.

Georgia requires individuals to obtain a weapons license to carry a gun but does not have a concealed carry permit. Holders may carry weapons openly or concealed in any location except those prohibited by laws, such as schools, government buildings, and courthouses.

Mr. Toland told media outlets that so far, no employee has had to pull the trigger at work.