As some of you may be aware, as of the first of this month, one of those laws of the type variously termed "Guns In Parking Lots", "Guns In Cars", or "Guns At Work" by the media went into effect in Indiana.
Of course, a better term of art would be "Guns Locked In Employees' Vehicles If The Employees Have A Valid License To Carry Handgun", but it hardly fits in a headline and doesn't scan so hot, either.
Predictably, there has been the usual amount of hand-wringing in the press, complete with dire predictions of shootouts and massacrees at the water cooler, because up to now all the would-be spree killers have been kept at bay by fear of getting fired if they brought their heater to the office.
Roberta X has been following the situation closely, and brings a roundup of pertinent articles and reactions.
The law is, as any such law would be, an ill-made sausage, balancing property rights against the right to shoot back, but anybody who has to travel through a rough neighborhood to get to work at an ungodly hour will probably appreciate not being forced to leave their gat at home during the commute.
We just passed the month-mark for "GUNZ IN BARZ" here in the Patron State of Shooting Sh*t, in addition to the few months before the original law was overridden by some idiot judge, and we have had nary an incident or blood-splattered bloomin'-onion.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, no amount of days/months/years of non-incidents will dissuade the anti-rights hoplophobes (read: 'idiots') of America from their chosen nigh-religious crusade.
Oh well. They are losing. We are winning (slowly). Works for me.
My employer has a charter school on site so no guns. The electronic time lock door quit working for a week before action was taken. Employee safety an issue??? No not realy just feel good measures. Easyer to pay off my estate than alow actual safety. YOUR EMPLOYER Has little to lose and you are easily replaced wage slave.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:38,
ReplyDeleteActually, my employers frequently let me open carry.
"...will probably appreciate not being forced to leave their gat at home during the commute."
ReplyDeleteBut probably not appreciate so much being forced to leave their gat in the car where it is captive prey for phishers, not to mention being forced to traverse parking lots and spend the day naked in a place where said gat is perhaps more likely than in most situations to be needed, even if you don't work in a post office.
Ah, well. Baby steps; and in the right direction.
AT
I will add that we are also on day 5 of no enraged drunken brawls in bars after our own restaurant ban was repealed here in the Old Dominion.
ReplyDeleteShould have heard/seen all the handwringing going on here in Arizona when constitutional carry was passed. If you want to carry concealed, and you are a law-abiding citizen, that's all you need.
ReplyDelete"anybody who has to travel through a rough neighborhood to get to work at an ungodly hour will probably appreciate not being forced to leave their gat at home during the commute."
ReplyDeleteWhich has always been my main argument in favor of these laws. While the employer, as the property owner, does have the right to decide if people can carry guns or not on his property, he does not have the right to disarm you anywhere else. Leaving it in the car is probably the best possible compromise between the employer's rights as a property owner and the employee's right to self-defense.
"I will add that we are also on day 5 of no enraged drunken brawls in bars after our own restaurant ban was repealed here in the Old Dominion."
I know. Now I wish I hadn't bought those new swampers in anticipation of all the blood I was supposed to have to wade through. :D
I'm torn between a desire to publicly demand a change to the employee handbook at work or to just print out a copy of the law and leave it under the door of my boss' office.
ReplyDeleteFurther to gats left in cars:
ReplyDeleteAn earlier topic at VFTP addressed all the extra touching and manipulating of carry guns in order to enter the many places where "No Firearms" or "No Loaded Firearms" is the rule, and the huge increase in odds of an ND because of it...
How ironic if and when the first coworker of a CCW to be shot is because said CCW was dumping his Glock into the console and got careless, perforating his own car door, the Prius next to him and ultimately the ass of the Prius uh, operator. How would Big Media play that? "As expected, the workplace has become a shooting gallery...".
This is a good step, but unfettered carry is the only real goal. It would be good to know if there are stats comparing large company campuses where CCW is don't-ask-don't-tell to places that make a whole big thing of banning it. And while we're at it, we should make a point of lobbying businesses we frequent (especially gun stores, ranges, etc.!) to forego their CYA policies to further the cause and out of pure principle.
AT
As of June 8th, 2010, Georgians such as myself have been able to carry in: sporting events, movie theaters, political rallies, church parking lots, government building parking lots, and all sorts of other vaguely termed "public gatherings."
ReplyDeleteRivers of blood have obviously been running ever since, as I'm sure you have all seen on your CNN/MSNBC/FOX news stations.
I posted on my blog on this and I've mentioned how I was not concerned when a few years ago Texas changed it's laws to allow people to carry a pistol in their car without a concealed carry permit. A friend of the force (Who is originally from Chicago of all things...and he lost his ass to me on a bet on the Superbowl...idiot went for the Colts :) ) said this would make the streets more dangerous and my response was along the words of "the bad guys are already not obeying the law, they are carrying in their cars and on their persons....that's why they are the bad guys...."
ReplyDeleteThe only shooting I've heard about in Indy involved 2 dope heads, one of whom was shot 13 times....
ReplyDeleteTam, I'm jealous as hell. Not only does Ye Olde Financial Company prohibit me from bringing any weapons to my cube, it also expressly prohibits having weapons in the parking lot across the street where most folks stash their cars. Frickin' RIDICULOUS.
ReplyDeleteLissa
ReplyDeleteQuestion...where are u? Mass? Calif? Ill?
MA. Also known as "The Volksrepublik of Massachusetts."
ReplyDeleteOh…The People’s Democratic Republic of Taxachusetts.
ReplyDeleteNevermind….I hoped you were still in the USA Lissa. Good knowing you! :<)
It would be nice if MA passed a law saying you can't tell someone what they can store in their auto...I wont' hold my breath.
On better subjects, how the Patriots looking this year?