NRA pushes 'guns-at-work' bill in Florida

Florida Times-Uion ^ | 10/08/2005 | J. Taylor Rushing

[RightDemocrat]

TALLAHASSEE -- A rare and spectacular showdown may be coming in Florida's Republican Party: Big Business vs. Big Guns. And the stakes couldn't be higher. To critics, it's about the safety of workplaces, including hospitals and churches, throughout the Sunshine State. To supporters, it's about the safety of employees who travel to and from those workplaces.

The dust-up is over the "guns-at-work" bill, which the National Rifle Association began pushing last month in Tallahassee to force all Florida businesses to allow firearms in the vehicles of any employee or visitor. Companies could keep policies banning guns from their buildings themselves but could no longer apply those policies to their parking lots.

Many businesses are either wary of or leaning against the proposal, including heavy-hitters such as Disney and local giants such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CSX and Baptist Health System.

But the NRA is insistent. The group, which has donated nearly $1 million in Florida over the past decade, mostly to Republicans, is led in Tallahassee by former national President Marion Hammer. Hammer said the rights of gun owners should be intact in their vehicles, and the proposed law already gives businesses immunity from liability lawsuits in cases of workplace shootings.

"Your home is a slam dunk, but bridging that into the private property of an organization doesn't hold," said Mike Hightower, chairman of the Duval County Republican Party and lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. "I don't think people are going to want to cross that line."

In a telling sign of wariness, neither Gov. Jeb Bush, Senate President Tom Lee nor House Speaker Allan Bense are taking positions on the bill yet.

[RightDemocrat]

Workers often have to travel through dangerous areas to get to work. If a company bans guns locked in a car of their parking lot, they are in effective prohibiting the employee from having a gun while traveling to and from work. It's a classic case of the rights of workers versus big business interests. I would love to see the NRA win this one. I hope that Governor Jeb Bush will grow a spine and support this proposal. Bush claims to support the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. I know that he caved into the illegal aliens on the driver's license issue and the gay lobby on the state gay marriage amendment, but let's hope that Bush will take a stand for the safety of Florida's workers by allowing them to travel to and from work with guns. If a company is worried about potential workplace violence, hire more security guards - the cost can come out the absurd salaries being paid to corporate CEO's.

[Tax-chick]

I assume the term "guns-at-work" was selected by opponents of the bill? It certainly gives a different impression from "guns locked in your car."

[RightDemocrat]

Yeah, I assume that the person writing the headline at the Florida Times-Union doesn't like the idea. "Guns at work" is deceptive. It's more like the employee self defense act.

[ExpatGator]

GOOD! My Life Membership fee is being put to good use. Thank you, and I AM THE NRA!

[Joe Brower]

[Puppage]

TALLAHASSEE -- A rare and spectacular showdown may be coming in Florida's Republican Party: Big Business vs. Big Guns

Ugh....can they at least get past the very first line before they try to, IMHO,scare the uninformed?

[blackie]

An Armed Citizen
Is A Safe Citizen!

[Paleo Conservative]

Many businesses are either wary of or leaning against the proposal, including heavy-hitters such as Disney and local giants such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CSX and Baptist Health System.

Disney is not a Republican company. That's one of the reasons this law is needed.

[B4Ranch]

From the quantity of ridiculous headlines we see, you are giving quite a bit of praise to the MSM journalists. I don't think they are that smart.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...In a telling sign of wariness, neither Gov. Jeb Bush, Senate President Tom Lee nor House Speaker Allan Bense are taking positions on the bill yet....

Wariness?

That's a big yellow stripe down their backs that's showing.

[JOE43270]

"GOOD! My Life Membership fee is being put to good use. Thank you, and I AM THE NRA!" I agree and I'm also a LIFE MEMBER. Your RIGHT WE are the NRA. The Second Amentmand is guarding America and WE are helping.

[yarddog]

I used to subscribe to the Florida Times Union and later the Georgia Times Union which was the same paper for the most part.

It was a pretty conservative paper. Maybe it has changeed or maybe just the writer wanted to create a little controversy with title.

[muir_redwoods]

"Your home is a slam dunk, but bridging that into the private property of an organization doesn't hold,"

Suppose an employer tried to tell it's workers they couldn't keep a bible locked in the trunk of their car while on the job. Would that be acceptable to large numbers of people? How did the first amendment become more important than the 2nd?

[P8riot]

A different approach would be to have automobiles declared as an extension of the home. Anything you could lawfully posses in your home would thereby be legal to possess in your vehicle, regardless of it's location.

[P8riot]

I too am a Life Member, but I have been disappointed with the NRA recently as I perceived the organization to be more re-active, than pro-active when it came to gun rights legislation. But with thiseffort and the recent court order banning confiscations in Louisianna, I am holding out hope that the NRA has finally grown some cojones. They still have a long way to go to catch up with the grassroots effectiveness of organizations like the VCDL in Virginia.

[William Tell]

I think that they should write the law so that it only applies to "corporations". These are legal entities which are granted privileges including limited liability. It should not be unreasonable for such entities to conduct themselves in ways which do not infringe rights.

In this way, the rights of private proprietorships to control their parking areas would be preserved, but corporations would be required to be "good citizens" who do not infringe the right to keep and bear arms.

This would seem to be a small price to pay for the substantial benefits which incorporation provides and it is completely consistent for the legislature to dictate what benefits and requirements attach to incorporation.

If a privately run hardware store wishes to disarm me in their parking lot but Home Depot is forbidden to do so, I know where I will choose to shop.

[faireturn]

P8riot wrote:

A different approach would be to have automobiles declared as an extension of the home. Anything you could lawfully posses in your home would thereby be legal to possess in your vehicle, regardless of it's location.

---

That is exactly the approach that will win in this issue.



Property rights vs Self-defense rights
Address:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1499080/posts

" -- There's a good bit of case law establishing the principle that an automobile is a traveling property zone of its owner, not the entity who owns the roads and parking lots on which the vehicle rests.
  The owner of a road may prohibit a vehicle from driving on the road, and the owner of a parking lot may insist that the vehicle be removed, but neither is justified in arbitrarily searching the vehicle or removing what it contains, insofar as the cargo is lawful. 

Firearms carried properly in a vehicle are, of course, lawful.  That means that their mere presence does not justify the road or parking lot owner violating the property rights of the vehicle owner.  In effect, the firearm is not in the parking lot or roadway; it is in the vehicle. -- "

[faireturn]

the rights of private proprietorships to control their parking areas would be preserved,

What is being "preserved"?
What does a private proprietorship gain by acting against our Constitutional mandate that the RKBA's shall not be infringed?

[neverdem]

Combine this issue with the argument about illegal aliens, open borders, crime and homeland security. Then you might have a way to cut the country club RINOs down to size.

[faireturn]

Combine this issue with the argument about illegal aliens, open borders, crime and homeland security. Then you might have a way to cut the country club RINOs down to size.

The first conservative republican with national stature to do so, -- will become a real contender.
To me it's amazing that none of them realize that fact. -- There are millions of us calling for some real leadership, but not an honest man is to be found.