Fla. lawmakers OK take-your-guns-to-work law

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/Reuters

Most Florida residents would be allowed to take guns to work under a measure passed by Florida lawmakers on Wednesday.

The bill, allowing workers to keep guns in their cars for self-protection, was approved by the Florida Senate by a vote of 26-13. It now goes to Republican Gov. Charlie Crist to sign into law.

Backed by the National Rifle Association and some labor unions, the so-called "take-your-guns-to-work" measure would prohibit business owners from banning guns kept locked in motor vehicles on their private property.

The measure applies to employees, customers and those invited to the business establishment as long as they have a permit to carry the weapon.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24033282/

---

As a CCW holder I have no problem with this law. An employer should not trump my ability to defend myself when commuting. IMHO the employer has a right to tell me not to bring the gun in to the building but not prevent me from keeping it locked in my vehicle.

[villager]

1. "Defend yourself when commuting?" What the fuck are your commutes like?

n/t

[fascisthunter]

2. Everybody Needs Security

...even if others are at risk of that very security.

[merwin]

4. With proper training, they are just as dangerous as a car.

The problem is, the state/federal govt doesn't require sufficient training and licensing.

Would you leave a gun in an open place without a gun lock? Many idiots do. For some reason that's seen as more acceptable than parking your car in a public place with the keys in the ignition.

It's all about training and safety.

[fascisthunter]

7. Yet Cars Aren't Designed to Kill as Weapons Are

Maybe you should by a vehicle instead of a gun since you think they are the same. :rofl:

Good god...

[merwin]

34. I didn't say they are the same, I said that without training they are

both equally deadly.

Would you leave your 10 year old in the car with the keys in and trust that nothing bad will happen?

[LiberalFighter]

44. Hmmm how many vehicles are left unopened with expectation only gone a few minutes?

[villager]

6. yes, there needs to be more shooting on the highways, absolutely

n/t

[fascisthunter]

8. Screw Road Rage without Guns

[villager]

12. Yes -- it's no damn fun without guns!

n/t

[dmallind]

15. And the only thing stopping this

is the prohibition against parking your car with your gun in it at work?

I mean I can just imagine the thought process necessary for thsis to make any difference...


A legal CCW permittee who can carry a gun on his person, in his home and in his car but cannot carry his gun on work property because of company policies, would have to sit there thinking "gosh I'd love to blow away the next person who cust me off on the way to work. I mean I could shoot anyone who cuts me off on the way to anywhere that allows guns, or I could shoot anyone on the street, but darn it that pesky company policy that means I can't leave my gun in my car on their parking lot is stopping me from shooting them on my commute which is when it would be so much fun. I mean I'm perfectly willing to shoot someone on the highway, breaking any number of laws from illegal discharge to murder one, but I MUST obey that HR directive!"

[Irreverend IX]

26. So what do you use to hunt fascists?

Harsh language?

[fascisthunter]

27. lolololololol.....

guhilp.... I'm gunna shoot em... guhilp.

[ngant17]

35. What? Tasers aren't good enough anymore?

Why the escalation in the potential for violence in Florida? Tasers should be adequate for personal protection, maybe a tear gas cannister. Do you really need to pack a pistol in the old handbag?

Ultimately, if someone wants to get you, and he/she thinks you have a handgun, one only needs the element of surprise to overcome that advantage.

A handgun is largely a false sense of security.

Countries that generally ban personal ownership of handguns do tend to have a lower rate of homicides as compared to countries where handguns are more permissible.

[elocs]

11. Yes, "Defend yourself when commuting"...one of the most bizarre comments I have ever seen here at DU

And that's saying a lot.

[RamboLiberal]

22. I'm female - I often work late

I'd rather have my handgun available to me if I need it on my commute. If I decide to take a hike after work on a trail. If I decide to go in a convenience store or restaurant. When I enter my home at night. The state gave me my CCW and said I'm safe to carry that firearm.

And for those who argue it can be stolen from my vehicle, well if I leave it at home there may be an even greater chance it can be stolen while I'm at work.

Not a dumb comment from me at all.

[northzax]

39. in your gun safe at home?

that's some prepared robbers.

[xioaping]

48. It was not a dumb statement. All reason you gave are valid

If are driving home late at night - and if you have taken all the courses required for a ccw - then I don't see you have a gun for protection as rediculas. I don't have one but have been thinking about taking the course and also applying for a ccw. It is not safe anymore. I also have to drive home late at night and in downtown at night when I close it is not safe area.

[davepdx]

18. Defending against situations involving stray bullets?

There may be somewhat of a precedent.

In the early 80's I was living in West Palm Beach, FL, and there was a story in the Palm Beach Post about a three time loser.

1) The paper said that while he was in his car at a stoplight he was "working his pistol" and he accidentally shot himself in the abdomen.
2. Instead of calling for help he decided to drive himself to the hospital.
3. About 4-5 blocks from the hospital he passed out because of bleeding and ran into the back of a bus.

Fortunately no one was hurt and an ambulance was called and took him to the hospital.

The same day in the same newspaper there was an article about some guy who tried to jump the drawbridge over the Intercoastal Waterway in Lantana while the bridge was raised up (Dukes of Hazzard style). He impaled his car on the other side of the raised drawbridge and traffic was interrupted for quite a while because they had trouble removing the car.

As I recall no one got hurt there either.

My guess is that there were more than a few people that day that wished they had guns for no other reason than to clean up the gene pool.

[RamboLiberal]

21. One never knows - hey there are many times I'm here alone

late at night. The state says I have a right to carry that firearm!

[darue]

31. since when do employers have any say over what's in a car in their parking lot?

never heard of such a thing. far as I know, they fire you for finding out that you have something they don't like in your car on their parking lot, you sue them and win.

[northzax]

41. it's their property

they can make the rules. if you would rather park somewhere else, you should feel free.

[xioaping]

49. Nope, ban on guns on company property is not uncommon

I've seen employee handbooks that make it clear it is reason to be fired.

[Jack_DeLeon]

53. True...

but if my employee wanted to search my car I would probably rather be fired.

Never consent to a search, be it by a private company or the government.

My life is more important than my job. I take my rights seriously.

You can always get another job, but depending on your religious beliefs or lack there of you may only have this one life.

[benEzra]

55. This whole issue came up...

when a Weyerhauser plant decided to do a warrantless sweep of their publicly accessible parking lot on the first day of deer season. Anyone who refused to open up their car for a search, or who had a legally possessed firearm in the vehicle, was fired on the spot.

Corporations assert not only the right to control the contents of your car regardless of where it is parked (even if not used for work purposes), but also the right to search it at any time they damn well please. That poses a big problem for those of us licensed by the state to carry a firearm when not at work, hence the new law.

[xioaping]

47. If he lives in Los Angeles...

he's got a point.

[BlueCollar]

59. RL must live down here in Texas

Trust me when I say that Texas freeways make for interesting commutes.

[nealmhughes]

60. I've found a 20 year old Volvo sedan pretty adequate myself! Amazing what will scatter when you

floor several thousand pounds of Swedish steel at them. That and a Doberman riding (proverbial) shotgun. Oddly, I rarely get -- acutally never -- cut off even in rush hour, and never any trouble getting on or off expressways, even on the LIE or Cross-Bronx.

[Tempest]

3. I bet a lot more men will be giving up their seats on the bus to women

[purji]

5. yet another reason FL.

will not be my vacation destination.

[HockeyMom]

9. Get me OUT of this state

All this sun has fried their BRAINS.

[W T F]

10. I guess all the Post Office workers

are going to be honky dory with this.:nuke:

[bluevoter4life]

13. They are also overlooking the obvious problem

What's to say a disgruntled employee or one who just had a bad day isn't going to go to his or her car and go on a spree? Or, what if your car is broken into? The thief is now armed and dangerous with YOUR gun. The NRA has too much influence in this country.

[HockeyMom]

17. This happened at work before I started

I used to work for a non profit mental health agency. One of the employees was being stalked by her estranged husband. Although she had an order of protection, he had threatened to "get her" at work. Against agency policy, she bought a gun and put it in her locked glove compartment. Stupid, on many accounts, especially given the fact that employees were required to take the clients out in the community in their own cars.

What this woman forgot was that her husband still had a extra set of keys to the car. So, he went to the agency parking lot, opened her car with his set of keys, got the gun, and waited for her to come out of work. When she did, he not only shot her, but a woman and a client who were walking with her. Fortunately, they all survived, but that woman was fired and never worked in the mental health field again.

We were told on our first day of work to NEVER EVER bring a gun on the premises. I wonder how Florida would deal with a situation as this.

Chalk up one more reason to NOT come to Florida.

[Jack_DeLeon]

54. Sounds like her mistake was...

leaving her weapons where someone who would probably do her harm could get to.

If she knew her husband had known that she had a gun in her glove compartment she should have moved it into her purse or somewhere else less accessible to him and more accessable to her.

[ckramer]

14. One of the best side effect of that probably is

your boss would treat you much nicer.

LOL.

[raystorm7]

16. Hey boss, I've got a bigger gun than you and I want a raise!

[llmart]

19. And America takes one more step.....

towards losing their status as a country to look up to. Amazing. What idiots they have making the laws in Florida.

[Tejas]

63. So, the founding fathers were idiots?

They came up with the neatest item, it's called the Bill of Rights, of which the 2nd one listed this new Florida law relates to.

[Yavin4]

20. At Least The UE Rate in Florida Won't Go Up

Kind of hard to lay off a 1,000 armed workers at the same time.

[coriolis]

23. The only thing this changes is to extend a legal right from the street into a parking lot.

I really don't think there are hundreds of licensed concealed gun carrying people just waiting for it to be legal to take it into their employers' parking lot so they can go berserk and commit mass murder. :eyes:

[crim son]

24. One more reason not to live in Florida.

As if I needed another one. :eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

25. When I read stories like this it just makes me sad that we live in such a violent country.

It's just really, really sad that the framers of the Constitution didn't know where their decisions could lead.

They should have specified long guns or rifles, and that would have solved so many problems, but how could they have forseen the powerful, tiny handguns we have now?

[Zachstar]

30. Don't Spin The pistols they had back then were just as deadly.

Today most shootings take place at close range. A pistol back then with its large ball shot at the same close range meant death usually.

So they knew what they were doing. It is high time we accepted that.

[jody]

28. Good law. If gun-grabbers don't want to carry, then they have that choice, that's pro-choice RKBA.

[raebrek]

64. Are you promoting

A gun carriers right to choose? :D

I choose no for right now. If I move far out of the city though I will probably change that choice. Who knows what crazy might be heading down that dirt road by my house while I am asleep. Miles away from police protection.

Raebrek!!!

on edit, I thought the smily would be smilier.

[Zachstar]

29. Looks like the anti-gun people are out in force on this one.

It really is sad that this stuff is still going on in communities such as DU. There is no need for any more anti-gun laws and the laws we got need to be worked on to work better in the 21st century.

While I am at it I think we need new laws requiring more training for drivers. That is a much bigger issue than guns.

[superconnected]

33. I'm pretty sure the anti-gun deaths are still lower than the gun deaths.

meaning the deaths that could have prevented had you had a gun.

[northzax]

40. this isn't an anti-anti gun law

there was no law forbidding people to keep guns in their cars, it was simply recognizing that a property owner should be able to prohibit weapons on his or her property. apparently one person's right to have a gun is greater than the property owner's right to prohibit them. not the state, a private individual. that's ridiculous.

[superconnected]

32. That's also the state that voted out the motorcycle helmet required law.

The biggest proponent of riding without helmets of course died within 2 years after the law was repealed by what else, head injury from not having a helmet when she crashed her motorcycle.

Look, all those politicians can bring guns to work now, yahoo! And their, secretaries and pages they're molesting can bring them!

[Endangered Specie]

51. Thats what we call "thinning out the herd"

[depakid]

36. Florida again

When will the madness stop?

[RantinRavin]

37. No permit is required to carry a firearm in a vehicle in Florida

The writer needs to check their facts. Under Florida law anyone that is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm may keep a firearm in their vehicle as long as it is "securely encased". Meaning in a closed glove compartment, center console, even a tupperware container as long as it has a lid on it. This law only prevents businesses from being able to tell employees and guests not to bring it to work and leave it in their vehicles.

[samsingh]

38. more reason to stay out of florida

[MadMaddie]

42. So let's just say you got all these folks that have NRA stickers

on their cars, and they leave their guns in their cars wherever they go.

Wouldn't that up the odds that when a criminal breaks into one of these cars that now theres a new weapon on the street.

Are they shooting at each other during their commutes?

[michreject]

43. One more reason to move to Fla.

Sounding better.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

45. So,I work at Florida State--a student employee can now keep

their gun in their car? What a fabulous idea; now when they get pissed at their girlfriend or teacher all they have to do is walk out to the car and come in and blow us all away?

[benEzra]

56. The scope of the law is limited to those who are licensed by the state to carry a weapon.

Faculty would be more likely to be so licensed than students, because of the age requirements and paperwork involved.

[beevul]

46. Predictions predictions predictions...

Every time something like this comes up the predictions of doom and gloom and blood in the streets, and the return of the wild west are made.

And its usually those same people that were the ones that made those very same predictions about concealed carry over the last decade.



I just have one questiong for those of you making those dire predictions:


You have been wrong every single time in the past with the doom and gloom predictions. Wrong on CCW, wrong on AWB sunset, and on and on and on...


Why should anyone believe you "crying wolf" this time?

[Endangered Specie]

52. Similarly, no sane person believes anything about foreign policy from a neo-con

think tank anymore...

why? because they are constantly and consistently wrong.

Track records are very important.

[struggle4progress]

58. Firearms Deaths by Mode of Death for Children

... Firearms injury is the second leading cause of non-natural death in childhood and adolescence (CDC, 2004) ...

Firearms Deaths by Mode of Death for Children <15 Years of Age
Top 10 Countries - Rate per 100,000
http://library.med.utah.edu.nyud.net:8090/WebPath/jpeg2/FOR114.gif

http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNSTAT.html

It's a genuine public health issue, whether you want to admit it or not

[Tejas]

62. So........ what is #1 ? n/t

[Triana]

50. This is the same bassackwards state that just voted to force women...

...to pay for an ultrasound before an abortion - and if they've been raped, or assaulted they have to "document" that before they can forego the ultrasound.

Florida: The Taliban State

[RebelOne]

57. It's not just Florida. Georgia just passed a similar law.

Also, guns may be taken into restaurants as long as the person carrying it does not drink alcohol.

[regnaD kciN]

61. I think its a GREAT idea!!!

Bosses will never "ask" employees to put in unpaid overtime again! :evilgrin: