Anyone Else Find this Troubling?

[Shane Connors]

OK so I got this on an HR email newsgroup I subscribe to and it just really disturbs the heck outta me. Working in the occupation we do, we know exactly to what extremes human behavior can manifest itself in at the workplace.....I just have to say about this...BAD IDEA!

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Florida residents could pack guns along with their briefcases as part of their workday routine, under a controversial measure endorsed by the Florida House on Wednesday.

With little debate, the House gave the citizens a major victory by passing a bill allowing employees to take their guns to work, as long as the owner has a permit and the weapon is locked in a car.

The guns-at-work bill forced the Legislature’s Republican leaders to choose between two core constitutional principles: the right to bear arms and private-property rights.

The bill (HB 503) passed on a largely party-line 72-42 vote, despite a last-minute appeal from business groups that called it an attack on their ability to regulate the workplace. The National Rifle Association is promoting similar legislation in every state, and Florida would be the fifth to pass it.

The bill prohibits employers from banning guns on their premises, as long as the employees and customers who bring weapons to work have a permit and leave the guns locked in their cars. However, an employer has no way of knowing who has a concealed-weapons permit, since the Legislature has shielded those records from public view.

Certain workplaces can still ban guns, such as nuclear-power plants, public hospitals, schools and jails.

Two Senate committees have endorsed similar legislation; a floor vote in that chamber could come as early as next week. The Senate’s version, though, doesn’t require that employees have a weapons permit to bring their guns to work, significantly broadening the bill’s scope.

While the House vote was a rare public defeat for the business lobby, unions lauded the idea. "This is a victory for everyone, because it sends the message that businesses can’t just carve out islands and tell you what your rights are," said Rich Templin, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO.

"Attempts to water down constitutional property rights . . . in favor of gun-owner rights can only be viewed as an attack on the business community and the jobs it creates and sustains," read a letter sent to House members by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Retail Federation and Associated Industries of Florida.

Oklahoma, Alaska, Kentucky and Mississippi have similar guns-at-work laws, although a judge struck down Oklahoma’s law after finding it conflicted with federal workplace-safety rules. The U.S. Supreme Court also is weighing what could be a landmark case about Washington, D.C.’s gun ban that could have wide implications on gun regulations

[Shane Connors]

I can't agree more...I'm curious to see how it shakes out if it gets challenged, perhaps at the federal level.

[Liz Ryan]

The more I think about this the more creepy it gets. What ability could employers possibly have to make the workplace safe for employees if any old Tom Dick or Sally could be packing at work? Isn't there a way for an employer to opt out of the requirement by stating up front that it's a gun-free zone?

[Shane Connors]

Indeed, considering last year I had an employee detonate an improvised explosive device in the back of his pickup...in my parking lot...sure, let's make this even easier. I'm wondering if the legislature has ever read the stories of workplace shootings.

[Liz Ryan]

Thanks for posting this, Shane. It's astounding. I find it troubling, also. We can ban smoking in the office, but not ban guns from the premises? The legislature is going about this all wrong. If you don't want to work at a gun-free workplace, don't take the job. It's a simple problem to solve. Why would the legislature have an interest in forcing employers to allow guns in the workplace? It's horrendous.