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House OKs Guns-At-Work Bill

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By RUSSELL RAY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 27, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - A bill allowing some gun owners to keep their guns locked in their car while at work easily passed the Florida House on Wednesday.

The proposed law, approved with no debate in a 72-42 vote, was sent to the Senate for consideration, where a companion bill is pending. The House measure would allow those with a concealed-weapons permit to have guns in their car while working.

The Senate measure, which passed a Senate committee Tuesday, does not limit "guns at work" to people with a concealed-weapons permit and would allow any employee or customer to keep a legally owned gun locked inside his or her car.

The House bill represents a compromise the Senate is expected to agree to.

Supporters of both bills say people have a constitutional right to carry firearms and should be able to keep guns in their cars for protection. But businesses contend the bill will lead to increased liabilities and pits the property rights of business owners against the constitutional right to bear firearms.

The House bill's sponsor, Rep. Greg Evers, R-Baker, said it is designed to prevent businesses from limiting the rights of gun owners.

The bill "allows folks to actually carry their gun without being afraid of their employer firing them because they have a gun in their vehicle."

But Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, said the bill will create difficulties for employers, who will be forced to craft rules for workers who have a concealed-weapons permit and workers who don't.

"It has problems with definitions. It has problems with enforcement," Seiler said. "You're creating two classes of employees and you're creating confusion for employers."

Seiler said the bill was so poorly written that he felt there was no need to debate the central issue of gun rights versus property rights, though he thinks the Second Amendment doesn't trump the rights of property owners.

"You have property rights and you need to figure those out in conjunction with the Second Amendment," Seiler said.

The National Rifle Association has been lobbying Florida legislators for a guns at work bill for the past three years.

Only five other states have laws prohibiting employers from keeping workers from having a gun in their car: Oklahoma, Alaska, Kentucky, Kansas and Minnesota. In Oklahoma, the law never took effect because it has been tied up in the courts.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at rray@tampatrib.com or (850) 222-8382.

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