Your thoughts on magazines in the work place

Good evening, everyone.

So this morning I had a semi-funny thing happen to me. Due to the policies of my workplace, I'm not armed (With a firearm, anyway) when I'm in the office. I usually field strip my Sigma, lock up the slide and the poly frame separately in my vehicle, and I take my magazines with me. My thinking is that if someone breaks into my car, they really have to work to reassemble the firearm, and even then they won't be able to immediately use it effectively without the magazine.

In any case, I have a book bag/back pack that held my company laptop and other random stuff in it, and on the sides you have two bellow pockets for water bottles and the like. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I slipped both magazines into one of those pockets, and made my way upstairs.

Now, I've done this routine quite a few times, and never had an issue. However, I was having a meeting with one of the supervisors today, and I guess I must have tipped my bag with the back of the chair juuuuuuust so, and lo and behold, I heard a THUNK!

At first I thought it was a book that I usually keep on my desk that is always falling down, but from the bulging eyes that she had, I knew it had to be one of my magazines.

She asked, "Is that... a gun clip?" (Her exact words)

Me, retrieving the magazine, "Yep."

Her: "...And is it, loaded? Oh, it is!" (Still a disbelieving look on her face. Then she said, "Uhm, I don't think you're allowed..."

Me: "I checked the signs downstairs, and the employee manual, there don't allow firearms or weapons on the premises. A magazine (I'm afraid I stressed the correct word in a school-teacher voice :laughing) is not either."

Her: "Why do you have one?"

I knew she meant a firearm.

Me: "Because I grew up in NYC, and know it can get crazy, because I feel a bit naked without one since leaving the Army, and because I can, thanks to the Constitution."

Her: "Well, so is my husband (Army vet), but...."

Me: "Yes, I'm just being prepared."

Then I knew it might go back and forth for a bit, but my awesome co-worker (A Marine scout/sniper that served in Desert Storm) stepped in and said: "He also shoots competitively."

Her: "Oh!" And apparently looked relieved at that. Not sure why that is okay and merely having one to protect myself is not.

Me (In my head): "Nice! Competitively my behind! :rolf"

And then the convo wandered off elsewhere.

Later on, after the supervisor left, I asked my co-worker, "That competitive thing was a smoke screen, right?"

He laughed and said heck yeah. :drinks

So, that story out of the way, I thought about a few things:

• Secure your magazines where the sheep can't see 'em!
• I'm following the letter of the "law" here at work, yes?
• Is there a law on the books in FL that states that a magazine is part of a firearm and must therefore be considered as such?

The reason I ask that last one is that because I was told that even if a firearm is field stripped, each component is still considered to be a firearm that is ready to rock, and didn't know if that extended to the magazines as well.

Sorry for the newb-ish type question, I just don't think this scenario had come up before.

Thanks all in advance! :thumsup