ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- If you're going to work for Lance Toland, you'd better feel comfortable carrying a gun.
"It's a skill set that I require," says Toland, who owns three aviation insurance companies in Georgia.
First Coast News caught up with Toland at his St. Simons Island office.
"We're living in difficult times and strange times, I'm not here for social commentary. I'm just here for Second Amendment rights to bear firearms and protect ourselves," he says.
At the beginning of the year, Toland told all of his employees they had to get a concealed carry permit. "They were ecstatic," he recalls.
Toland says he made the decision to mandate concealed weapons permits at his businesses after hearing about violence in the areas near his offices -- and after becoming a victim himself.
"The police show up and they do a fantastic job, but there's not enough of them and they can't be everywhere," he says.
Toland says most of his employees keep their guns at their desk, but some carry them on their hips. He has a total of 12 employees, most of whom are women.
"One of my ladies was U.S. Army, a sharpshooter in the Army," he says.
Toland acknowledges his gun policy isn't for everyone, but he says it works for him and his company. Some of his clients, Toland says, are thinking about doing the same thing.
"When a perpetrator comes into an office and it's obvious things are not going well, that perpetrator with ill intent has started a fire," says Toland, showing off a handgun. "And this judge is the fire extinguisher. My employees are going to be safe and my family is going to be safe."
Toland says he's only received two emails from people who say they disagree with his policy and will never work for him.
In 2014, Georgia passed the Safe Carry Protection Act, meaning gun owners with the proper permit can carry their weapons almost anywhere.