I swear I’m not trying to turn this into a ‘blog about guns, I never have and never will be an NRA member, but… The local news has been all over Florida HB 503, aka the Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008. It is… interesting.
The Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald both published unattributed opinion pieces calling it bad for business and an infringement of property rights. Their arguments strike me as being completely wrong. First and foremost, nothing in Florida law requires a gun owner to honor a property owner’s “No guns allowed” policy, so there is no “right” being taken away. The bill also provides that an “employer is not liable in a civil action based on actions or inactions taken in compliance with this section.” To me that sounds like a giant win for business!
That said, I don’t think HB 503 is good law. The rights of customers and other guests of a business are already adequately protected. Employees, however, most certainly are not. I happen to have worked with someone who was let go “without reason” after their employer suspected there was a gun in that person’s car, which was parked outside of the company’s parking area to avoid violating the company’s anti-gun and search policies. Had this bill been law back then, the only remedy would have been to file a civil rights lawsuit, which I would expect to be quite difficult to win.
Also, the protection for an employee in the House version of the bill only applies to those that have a concealed weapons permit. Florida law allows anyone in legal possession of a gun to keep it in their car without a permit so long as it is “securely encased” — basically in anything that has to be opened, such as a closed-but-unlocked glovebox or a holster with a snap-strap. I see no rationale for denying protection to law abiding, non-permit holding citizens.
And of course, the bill is completely silent about concealed carry. I’m not particularly in favor of guns in the workplace but it strikes me as silly that a permit holder can bring a gun into a bank or Walmart but they risk being fired for having a gun in their office.
I suppose that something is better than nothing, but HB 503 ain’t much.
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