Guns
in the Workplace
Legislators are considering a bill
that would expose an employer to third-degree felony charges and
fines of up to $5,000 if it hindered workers from storing their
guns in locked automobiles that are parked on the employer’s
premises.
This legislation would also grant employers immunity from liability
in lawsuits involving the injury or death of an employee resulting
from a workplace shooting. It should be noted that there are exceptions
to this immunity. Many questions remain unanswered, as of this
writing. regarding the provisions dealing with immunity.
Similar legislation has passed the state legislatures of Alaska
and Oklahoma. Seven other states, including Florida, are currently
considering guns-in-the- workplace bills. In Oklahoma a group
of employers has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the statute,
which is under injunction pending the court’s ruling. The
Oklahoma lawsuit argues that the employers’ federal obligation
to provide a safe workplace for their employees under the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration’s general duty clause should
trump a state law that threatens workplace safety.
Statistics about workplace shootings do not favor one side over
the other. According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau
of Labor Statistics, more than half of the 795 workplace assaults
that occurred in 2004 were shootings, but only eight percent of
those were committed by a former or current employee. More than
half of the shootings were committed by criminals.
According to the bill’s sponsors, law-abiding citizens
already have a constitutional, as well as a statutory, right to
carry firearms in their private vehicles for lawful purposes.
They say that keeping a firearm locked securely in a vehicle in
a parking lot is part of that right. The sponsors also point out
that the bill addresses the safety concerns of employees who work
late shifts or have to travel long distances to and from their
job sites.
Employers, on the other hand, are concerned that making firearms
so readily accessible will aggravate already tense workplace situations,
such as disciplinary actions and firings. Easy access to a weapon
may facilitate a hasty and possibly fatal decision on the part
of a disgruntled employee.
This legislation creates more problems than solutions for businesses
in Florida. Although the Second Amendment right to bear arms is
a fundamental right for all citizens, so is the right to control
the use of one’s private property.
The need to maintain a safe workplace environment is critical
for the success of any business, no matter the size. How to do
so should remain the choice of the business owner who best knows
the climate and situations in which his employees must work. The
immunity provisions in the bill simply do not provide the sufficient
safeguards for employers who choose to prohibit employee possession
of guns at the workplace. |
