WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[eyeheartawk]

Especially because the real question isn't whether they are armed at the company BBQ, but whether they are armed when out on duty in the field, about to knock on the door of someone with whom they may have a highly negative interaction.

I mean, folks, have you been following the news these days? Folks get shot pulling into the wrong driveway! We expect PIs to go to work unarmed?

There are lots of jobs much more dangerous than being police and they go unarmed. Let's salute our brave, brave pizza delivery men. The thin bread line.

Workplace fatalities: 25 most dangerous jobs in America

In some industries, no matter how strict the safety standards put in place, there are always accidents and fatal errors.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Especially because the real question isn't whether they are armed at the company BBQ, but whether they are armed when out on duty in the field, about to knock on the door of someone with whom they may have a highly negative interaction.

I mean, folks, have you been following the news these days? Folks get shot pulling into the wrong driveway! We expect PIs to go to work unarmed?

I mean, yes. But I wish I wasn't.

 

[payn]

There are lots of jobs much more dangerous than being police and they go unarmed. Let's salute our brave, brave pizza delivery men. The thin bread line.

Workplace fatalities: 25 most dangerous jobs in America

In some industries, no matter how strict the safety standards put in place, there are always accidents and fatal errors.

www.usatoday.com

I served papers for a year. I was armed by the end of it. Not doing that again!

 

[Umbran]

(image removed)

Mod Note:
Turning to mockery is a good way to get removed from the conversation.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Especially because the real question isn't whether they are armed at the company BBQ, but whether they are armed when out on duty in the field, about to knock on the door of someone with whom they may have a highly negative interaction.

I mean, folks, have you been following the news these days? Folks get shot pulling into the wrong driveway! We expect PIs to go to work unarmed?

I mean, sure, but it cuts both ways. Armed men appearing in your driveway are much more likely to cause a homeowner to "come out blastin'" - I don't think the victim being armed would have helped in any of the recent cases of people being shot at merely for coming to the door - on the contrary, even. For a recent example see the cops who came to someone's house (I think in plain clothes), realized it was the wrong house, the homeowner saw armed men in his driveway discussing what they were going to do and started blasting, he got killed, then his wife picked up the gun and kept shooting, because they still hadn't identified themselves. Only when they identified themselves to her did she stop - and only because she thought they'd arrived to save her, not just killed her husband.

Guns don't protect you from being shot at. The best protection there is being extremely careful and cautious in how you approach people. Well, the best protection is living in a country that doesn't let everyone and their dog have a pistol, but that's a whole other non-ENworld discussion.

But the real issue is people shouldn't be sending PIs/armed thugs to deal with this kind of situation. It's unnecessary escalation.

 

[Umbran]

There are lots of jobs much more dangerous than being police and they go unarmed.

Yes, but that article is apparently about workplace accidents, not about getting shot. If you want to keep power line workers safe from electrocution, a sidearm wouldn't be a terribly effective choice, no.

 

[darjr]

Saw some folks posting “marked safe from the Pinketons”

 

[Umbran]

Guns don't protect you from being shot at.

I'm aware. I am not arguing about what behavior is actually optimal. I'm talking about expected behavior.

Do, please, find me the webpage of the PI firms advertising that they go into their property recovery gigs unarmed. I'll wait.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

There are lots of jobs much more dangerous than being police and they go unarmed. Let's salute our brave, brave pizza delivery men. The thin bread line.

Workplace fatalities: 25 most dangerous jobs in America

In some industries, no matter how strict the safety standards put in place, there are always accidents and fatal errors.

www.usatoday.com

What sad is even in the UK police act like they have an incredibly dangerous job - and officers have been killed - but in the last 200 years like 95 officers have actually been killed in actual attempts to prevent crime on the British mainland (i.e. not Northern Ireland). We have 150k police.

Yes, but that article is apparently about workplace accidents, not about getting shot. If you want to keep power line workers safe from electrocution, a sidearm wouldn't be a terribly effective choice, no.

No matter how you work it, police in the US die on the job at a drastically lower rate than many other professions - some of them not even seen as dangerous. And I'd have to check, but last I heard, the vast majority of US police fatalities were due to traffic collisions, except during the pandemic, when it was due to COVID (which was somehow being counted). That's not to say they shouldn't be armed, sadly I think that's not an option in the US, currently, but it's best to avoid glorifying it or acting like it's the major risk factor.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Do, please, find me the webpage of the PI firms advertising that they go into their property recovery gigs unarmed. I'll wait.

At a casual Google, I can't find any that say either way. They mostly seem to be pretty cage-y on that issue.

But beyond anything else, PIs were not the correct solution to this problem. Especially not ones calling themselves Pinkertons.