Personal Injury Law

Employees and Firearms in the workplace

By Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.

As of July 1, the new Florida law on the Preservation and Protection of the Right to keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008 is in effect. This new law gives employees with concealed handgun licenses the right to bring firearms to work, providing they keep them locked in their cars. 

This new law has several major opponents, one being Florida’s largest employer, Walt Disney World. According a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel by Scott Powers and Jason Garcia,  Disney is using a legal loophole in the new legislation to keep most of their property is exempt.  A few other heavy weights opposing this new firearms legislation, include the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation.

The blog, HR Bartender, chimed in on this subject, with an intro from the movie Scarface “Say hello...to my little friend.”  Also opponents of the new legislation, they mention the injunction that is before the courts and cleverly end with “Let’s hope the courts listen. Otherwise employers will have a whole bunch of new “friends” hanging out in the parking lot.”

Blogger, George_Teneyck, made an interesting point  in the blog post “Coming Soon In Florida, Bring Your Gun to Work Day?” , when he writes  “I'm not sure how legalizing the concealment of deadly weapons helps anything except CNN's news ratings.”

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle is quoted in an article by Adam L. Neal, for Treasure Coast Scripps Newspapers as saying that he thinks that the law is so badly written that it’s "stupid”. However, Judge Hinkle has declined to make a ruling until sometime in July.

Regardless of how employers feel about this new Florida gun law, they are not allowed to take action against or search the vehicles of their employees who have legal permits to carry concealed weapons. Everyone will have to wait and see how Judge Hinkle rules on this new law. Until then, let’s hope that there will not be a wave of violence at Florida work-sites in the meantime.

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).