A property manager in Midtown Memphis called me last month with a question I’ve been hearing more often: “Do I need armed guards or not?” She manages a strip mall on Madison Avenue with a laundromat, a fried chicken restaurant, a tax prep office, and a beauty supply store. Somebody had broken into the beauty supply shop twice in six weeks, and her tenants were threatening to leave.
Down the road in East Memphis, a corporate campus off Shady Grove has had unarmed guards walking the property for years without incident. The officers check badges, wave at employees, and call the police if something looks off. Nobody there has asked about upgrading to armed personnel.
Two Memphis properties, ten minutes apart, with completely different security needs. The armed-versus-unarmed question doesn’t have a universal answer. It depends on what you’re protecting, where you’re located, what hours you need coverage, and how much risk you’re willing to carry on your insurance policy.
Here’s what the actual numbers and regulations tell us.
What Tennessee Requires
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) regulates private security through its Private Protective Services division. Both armed and unarmed guards need state licensure, but the paths diverge quickly.
An unarmed security guard in Tennessee must complete a four-hour basic training course. That course covers orientation, legal powers and limitations of a security officer, emergency procedures, and general duties. Four hours. That’s a single morning. After that and a background check, you can wear a uniform and patrol a property.
An armed guard has to complete everything the unarmed guard does, plus an additional 12 hours of firearms-specific training. Eight of those hours happen in a classroom covering legal limitations on firearm use, handling, safety, and maintenance. The remaining four hours are live-fire marksmanship training, where the candidate must hit at least 70 percent accuracy to qualify.
So the total for an armed guard: 16 hours of training. For unarmed: four hours.
That gap matters for two reasons. First, it creates a smaller pool of armed candidates. Not everyone who wants to work in security wants to carry a firearm, and not everyone who wants to can pass the marksmanship test. Second, the additional training time means additional cost for the guard company, which gets passed directly to the client.
What It Actually Costs
Let me break down the real numbers for the Memphis market in early 2022.
An unarmed guard typically bills at $14 to $18 per hour. That’s the rate the client pays the security company, not what the guard takes home. The guard’s actual wage might be $10 to $13, with the rest covering the company’s overhead, insurance, management, uniforms, and profit margin.
An armed guard bills at $18 to $25 per hour, depending on the post, the hours, and the level of experience required. Some high-risk sites pay even more. The guard’s take-home on armed work is usually $14 to $18.
Over the course of a year, the difference adds up fast. Say you need one guard covering 12 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s 84 hours per week, or about 4,368 hours per year.
At $16 per hour for unarmed service, you’re looking at roughly $69,900 per year.
At $22 per hour for armed service, that jumps to about $96,100.
The armed option costs you an extra $26,000 a year for a single post. If you have three posts, the gap is $78,000. That’s real money for a property management company or a small retail chain, and it’s the reason plenty of Memphis businesses stick with unarmed guards even when their gut tells them they might need something more.
The Insurance Question
Cost isn’t just about the hourly rate. Insurance plays a massive role in the armed-versus-unarmed decision, and most property managers don’t think about it until their broker calls.
A security company carrying armed officers needs significantly higher liability coverage. General liability policies for armed guard companies in Tennessee typically run $2 million to $5 million, compared with $1 million to $2 million for unarmed-only firms. That additional premium gets baked into the billing rate.
On the client side, there’s a separate concern. If you hire armed guards for your property and one of them fires a weapon, your own commercial general liability policy could be on the hook. Some policies exclude incidents involving third-party armed personnel. Others require a specific endorsement. Either way, it’s a conversation you need to have with your insurance agent before you sign a security contract.
I talked to a risk management consultant on Clark Tower who handles accounts for several East Memphis commercial properties. He told me that about half his clients have no idea how their insurance interacts with armed security. “They call me after they’ve already hired the guards,” he said. “That’s backwards.”
When Armed Makes Sense
There are situations where armed guards earn their premium. In Memphis, those situations show up in specific patterns.
High-value sites. Jewelry stores, gun shops, electronics retailers, and financial institutions are obvious candidates. If what you’re protecting is expensive, portable, and attractive to criminals, armed guards create a visible deterrent that unarmed officers can’t match.
Late-night and overnight posts. A guard standing alone at a warehouse gate off Holmes Road at 2 a.m. is in a different situation than one checking IDs at a Germantown office building at noon. Overnight posts in isolated or high-crime areas carry higher risk, and armed officers are better positioned to handle a confrontation.
Properties in high-crime zones. Memphis recorded 342 homicides in 2021. The city’s crime map isn’t evenly distributed. Areas like Whitehaven, Frayser, Hickory Hill, and parts of North Memphis see disproportionate violent crime. A business operating in those neighborhoods has a different threat profile than one in Collierville or Bartlett.
Construction sites with expensive equipment. Heavy machinery and copper wiring attract thieves. Construction sites along the I-240 corridor and in the medical district have been targeted repeatedly. Armed overnight guards reduce the risk of confrontation between a thief and an unarmed officer who has no way to respond.
Event security at high-profile venues. When the FedExForum hosts a Grizzlies game or a concert, the security plan includes armed officers at key points. The same goes for large-scale events at the Landers Center in Southaven or the Renasant Convention Center downtown.
When Unarmed Is the Right Call
For many Memphis businesses, unarmed guards are not just sufficient — they’re preferable.
Office buildings and corporate campuses. The primary job is access control and customer service. Employees and visitors need to see a professional, approachable presence. An armed officer in a lobby can make people uncomfortable rather than safe. Properties along Poplar Avenue, in the Ridgeway area, and around Schilling Farms in Collierville almost universally use unarmed staff.
Residential communities. Gated neighborhoods in Germantown, Cordova, and Lakeland need guards to check credentials and deter trespassing. An armed officer at a neighborhood gate sends a message most homeowners don’t want to send. Unarmed guards handle these posts well.
Retail stores during business hours. A uniformed presence near the front door reduces shoplifting. The guard doesn’t need a weapon to do this. Most national retail chains that hire contract security for daytime shifts specify unarmed officers in their contracts.
Healthcare facilities. Hospitals and clinics present a tricky case. Some emergency rooms in Memphis — particularly at Regional One Health on Jefferson Avenue and Methodist Le Bonheur in Midtown — use armed officers due to the volume of violent-injury patients and the confrontations that sometimes follow. General medical offices and urgent care clinics, though, lean unarmed.
Schools and churches. Tennessee law has specific provisions for armed security at schools, and some Memphis-area churches have brought in armed officers after high-profile shootings at houses of worship. These are case-by-case decisions with intense community input.
The Deterrence Question
Does a visible firearm actually prevent crime? Security professionals in Memphis disagree.
The argument for armed deterrence is straightforward: a criminal sees a gun on the guard’s hip and picks a softer target. Several property managers I spoke with said their tenants specifically requested armed guards because they believe the visual signal matters. “My tenants feel safer,” one manager in Hickory Hill told me. “Whether the data supports it, I don’t know. They feel it.”
The argument against is more complicated. A firearm creates an escalation risk. If a shoplifter tries to run and an armed guard reacts, the situation can turn deadly in seconds. Security industry data from ASIS International suggests that the overwhelming majority of security incidents at commercial properties are resolved without any physical force at all. Observation, reporting, and verbal engagement handle most situations.
An unarmed guard who calls Memphis Police is often a better outcome than an armed guard who draws a weapon. The response time from MPD varies by precinct and call volume, and it can stretch to 30 minutes or more for non-emergency calls. That reality pushes some property owners toward armed guards as a hedge against slow police response.
The Liability Trap
Here’s the part that keeps security company owners awake at night.
If an armed guard on your payroll discharges a firearm and injures or kills someone, the legal and financial consequences can destroy a company. Even a justified shooting generates lawsuits, media attention, regulatory scrutiny, and insurance claims. The guard’s training record, mental health history, and performance reviews all become evidence.
Tennessee law does provide certain protections for licensed armed guards acting within the scope of their duties. The state’s self-defense statutes apply to security officers the same way they apply to private citizens. There’s no special immunity for contract guards.
A Memphis attorney who represents security companies told me his firm handles two to three firearms-related lawsuits per year involving guard companies. Most settle. The settlements aren’t small. “One bad shoot can cost more than a decade of armed guard revenue,” he said.
Making the Decision
If you’re a Memphis property owner or manager trying to decide between armed and unarmed security, here’s a framework that works.
Start with a threat assessment. What crimes have occurred at your property in the past 24 months? What’s happening at similar properties in your area? Pull your police reports and talk to your neighbors.
Match the response to the risk. If your biggest threat is shoplifting and trespassing, unarmed guards with good training and radio communication will handle it. If you’re facing armed robberies, vehicle break-ins with weapons, or threats of violence against staff, armed guards are worth the extra cost.
Talk to your insurance broker before you sign a contract. Make sure your policy covers the type of security you’re bringing onto the property, and understand what exclusions might apply.
Ask the security company about training standards, not just the state minimum. A company that trains its armed officers beyond the 16-hour TDCI floor is a company that takes risk seriously. Ask how many hours their guards get. Ask about ongoing qualification requirements. Ask about use-of-force policies.
Get the contract right. Specify whether armed or unarmed, spell out the rules of engagement, and make sure the indemnification language protects you if something goes wrong.
Memphis in 2022 is a city where both armed and unarmed security have their place. The right answer isn’t always the most expensive one. It’s the one that matches the actual threat at your actual property, backed by real insurance coverage and real training standards. Do the homework before you sign the check.