ABA Supports Employer Gun Control Issue
From The Associated Press And Other Sources: MIAMI, FL ~ Employee parking lots have become an unlikely focus in the fight over gun rights. The nation's largest lawyers group is taking on the biggest gun rights organization over employers' rights to bar workers from leaving guns in their cars while on the job. The controversy began in Oklahoma.The American Bar Association says the issue is workplace violence and how to reduce it.
The ABA, meeting in Miami, is expected to go on record early next week supporting the right of employers "to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons."
Roughly 1,000 people are killed at work each year and guns are used in 80 percent of those incidents, the ABA says, citing federal estimates.
The National Rifle Association says the question is whether employees can protect themselves on their drive home. The NRA has embarked on a state-by-state campaign to get legislatures to enact laws that require employers to allow their workers to bring guns on company parking lots.
"When you get off work at 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock and you're driving home, you have the right to protect yourself if you're accosted on the highway," said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president.
The issue has its roots in two unrelated episodes, the firing of employees in Oklahoma and a shooting rampage in Mississippi. In 2002, forest products giant Weyerhauser Corp. fired eight employees after guns were found in their cars on company lots in southeastern Oklahoma. Federal courts have upheld the firings. In response, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law preventing business owners from prohibiting guns inside locked vehicles on company property.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips Inc., which employs more than 3,000 people in Oklahoma, filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to block the law. The issue is pending in the courts.
The NRA, meanwhile, began a boycott of the energy company's Conoco and Phillips 66 products and stepped up efforts to get other states to adopt laws similar to Oklahoma's.
The ABA, meeting in Miami, is expected to go on record early next week supporting the right of employers "to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons."
Roughly 1,000 people are killed at work each year and guns are used in 80 percent of those incidents, the ABA says, citing federal estimates.
The National Rifle Association says the question is whether employees can protect themselves on their drive home. The NRA has embarked on a state-by-state campaign to get legislatures to enact laws that require employers to allow their workers to bring guns on company parking lots.
"When you get off work at 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock and you're driving home, you have the right to protect yourself if you're accosted on the highway," said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president.
The issue has its roots in two unrelated episodes, the firing of employees in Oklahoma and a shooting rampage in Mississippi. In 2002, forest products giant Weyerhauser Corp. fired eight employees after guns were found in their cars on company lots in southeastern Oklahoma. Federal courts have upheld the firings. In response, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law preventing business owners from prohibiting guns inside locked vehicles on company property.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips Inc., which employs more than 3,000 people in Oklahoma, filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to block the law. The issue is pending in the courts.
The NRA, meanwhile, began a boycott of the energy company's Conoco and Phillips 66 products and stepped up efforts to get other states to adopt laws similar to Oklahoma's.
Labels: 2nd Amendment, ABA, Gun Control, Gun Rights, NRA
posted by Mike McCarville @ 10:43 AM
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