Posted on 03/29/2006 10:04:37 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Should you be able to take your gun to work?
08:17 AM CST on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 By Vicente Arenas / KHOU
There's a battle looming over your right to take a gun to work. The controversy centers on whether you should be able to leave a firearm in your car.
If Granger Durdin could take her gun everywhere, she said she would.
"With the crime rates the way they are and with being a young female, I sometimes feel a little bit more vulnerable and with a gun I have the protection that I need to be safe," said Durdin.
The 29-year-old manager is not alone.
"It's very important. You don't know when someone is going to come after you," said gun owner Brenda Lorisch.
In Texas, businesses have the right to keep concealed weapons out of buildings. Now there's a move to allow companies to prohibit them from parking lots, too and that has some concealed carriers upset.
"I believe that's an infringement on civil liberties," said gun owner Pat Warren.
There are no real statistics that will tell you how many people take their guns to work and leave them in their cars. But when it comes to firearms, people in the gun industry will tell you that most people who have licenses to carry them won't leave home without them.
"It takes away our right to protect ourselves going to and from work," said Cheryl Lamar, Hot Wells Firing Range.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips is challenging a law in Oklahoma that allows workers to leave guns in their cars parked on company property.
The company said it is simply trying to provide a "safe and secure working environment for its employees by keeping guns out of their worksites, specifically refineries, natural gas plants and distribution terminals."
11 News found a sign outside an area plant prohibiting weapons, but saw no such signs in the company's parking lot. Still it's clear guns aren't welcome there.
When asked if she thought that this could lead to workplace violence, "Yes, I've heard that. I don't agree," said Sue King, NRA board member.
King grew up around guns. She said ConocoPhillips' efforts are a waste of time.
"If you think back to the incidents of workplace violence that we occasionally, rarely have in this country and keeping the Oklahoma legislation in mind, you'll realize that those people who commit workplace violence are either outright criminals, they're mentally unbalanced or they are true psychopaths," King said.
"I feel that it's a problem," said Tomasita Garza, Texans for Gun Safety.
This group disagrees with King, saying there are other problems with leaving a gun in a car.
"The reason being no vehicle is safe. No matter what kind of deterrents you use to keep your car from being stolen, it can still be stolen," said Garza.
ConocoPhillips is one of several companies asking an Oklahoma judge to clear the way for employers to prevent workers from keeping pistols in the parking lot.
The company says it, "supports the second amendment and the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns".
It's that amendment that granger Durdin says it gives her a little more confidence and the right to protect herself wherever she may be.
For some reason I first read that as: It'd be an awefully smelly rally though...
I'm with ya dead.
mc
Age discrimination laws are strange- you are free to discriminate against people because they are too young, but not because they are too old.
When my employer holds the pink slip to my car, then they can dictate the contents. Period. End of story.
I'm afraid that's completely asinine. Having rules always discriminates against rule-breakers. Employers routinely fire employees for fraternization--that's clear discrimination against horny employees, who of course deserve "equal protection"... Rules against tattoos? Blanant civil-rights violation. Dress codes? Puhlease! How discriminatory can you get?
You watch too much TV.
What is assinine is the employers assertion that an empoyees car ceases to be the employees just because of where it is parked.
I'm going to move to an uninhabited island when they make the unattractive, fat or smelly a protected class. And some would consider me to be unattractive, fat and smelly...
They can't dictate the contents of your car. They can, however, dictate the rules for parking in their lot. If you refuse to follow those rules, they can deny you the privilege of parking on their property. Furthermore, if you defy the rules surreptitiously and later get caught, they can fire you.
Precisely. How would they know, unless you told them.
here in Michigan it would onl;y be a violation of company policy, not against the law.
The employer is doing no such thing. He's making a rule about parking. Plan to follow it? You can park. Plan to break it? OK, you can't park. Park somewhere else. It's his property. You may not like how he uses his property. It might be inconvenient for you. But I'm afraid it's his, not yours.
Now if you hate guns, fears guns, or think guns are somehow inherently evil, just say so...
If you're going to resort to ad homina, you'll have to do considerably better than that. I'm not only pro-second-amendment, but also a hunter. I have nothing against guns. Rather, you have something against property rights. You think that someone else has to follow your rules on his land. Can't agree with you there, comrade.
In that case, the easy way to outlaw guns is to make a buncy of laws that say "you cannot possess a gun within 1000 feet of [INSERT LOCATION TYPE HERE]."
That's what the Feds did with public schools. If you have a gun in your car and drive within a thousand feet of a public school, you have committed a felony.
I defy you to find a path from your work to your home that does not pass within a thousand feet of a public school.
This group disagrees with King, saying there are other problems with leaving a gun in a car.
"The reason being no vehicle is safe. No matter what kind of deterrents you use to keep your car from being stolen, it can still be stolen," said Garza
xxxxxxxxxxxx
The most secure place to keep my firearm is my holster concealed on my person. Dam leaving it lonely in my car.
Yes, I understand it's someone else's business, property, etc. But having been attacked and almost put six under while working, I want to know who's responsible for my safety if I'm not allowed to be. Sure as heck isn't LEO...
Why does this have so much trouble getting through to you? It's your car, and you have no right whatsoever to put your car on his land. Oh, unless he says you can, of course. He isn't seizing your car; he's doing the equivalent of putting a guard and gate on the lot, and having the guard let some people in, and turn other people away.
Oh brother...
When you remove my weapon from me you put me in danger. Could be an interesting lawsuit.
It's only a matter of time. It's already illegal to refuse to associate with certain people of protected classes.
I hate antisemites. But that doesn't mean I think they should be forced, under penalty of law, to hang around with Jews.
That is where the debate should end. The employer cannot have a property claim to the car.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.