Colorado: "Attorneys advise caution on gun policy"

[cuchulainn]

Golly, maybe they should look to how the dozens of other states have handled this issue.

from the Denver Buisness Journal

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/07/07/story4.html?page=2

Attorneys advise caution on gun policy

Amy Fletcher
Denver Business Journal

Lawyers are encouraging employers to consider everything from their legal liabilities to workers' compensation insurance when deciding how to deal with the state's new concealed weapons laws.

Colorado's new gun laws likely will mean more people will pack heat in more locations, raising important questions for employers: Should they inform visitors of their weapons policy? If so, how? Do companies need more insurance if employees are responsible for locking away guns brought to the office by visitors?

The new laws don't offer much guidance on how to deal with these kinds of issues, but lawyers say employers should begin making decisions now.

Senate Bill 24, which was signed by Gov. Bill Owens in March, makes Colorado a "shall-issue" state, meaning sheriffs must issue concealed weapons permits to applicants who are legal residents of the state, at least 21, pass a criminal background check and show proficiency with a weapon by producing a training certificate. Another new law also gives people broader rights to carry their weapons in public.

It's hard to know how many more people will begin carrying concealed weapons, but police departments have received a deluge of applications. The new law, which went into effect May 18, still allows private employers to enforce their own policies against guns.

"Each employer will have to make his own decisions," attorney Charles Weese said at a recent seminar sponsored by Faegre & Benson LLP in Denver. "It doesn't say how you prohibit guns. ... It gives you no guidance at all."

Proponents of the law say guns deter crime and increase safety, but most employers say they do not belong in the workplace. If an employee threatens or assaults someone on the job, in some situations the employer may be liable for negligence.

Some companies already have policies against guns but are deciding whether to post notices in their offices or in company-owned parking lots.

"That's a sticky issue," said lawyer Richard Caschette. "Will that turn [customers] off?"

If employers plan to enforce their policy with visitors, they will need to post some kind of sign, he said. Otherwise, depending on how an armed visitor is removed, the employer could face lawsuits alleging defective notice, false imprisonment, assault or defamation. It is also important to be consistent and nondiscriminatory in enforcing the policy.

"Those types of actions clearly exist," he said. "You definitely have remedies depending if the mode of exclusion was reasonable or not."

Although the concealed weapons law is not specific about notification, the city's trespass law gives some guidance in terms of what kind of sign should be posted. The ordinance refers to a "conspicuous sign" that is at least one square foot and sufficiently lighted. It also refers to lettering that is at least 1 inch tall and language similar to, for example, "violators are subject to arrest."

If employees become responsible for checking visitors for guns or locking the weapons away during a client's visit, that could raise workers' compensation rates, said attorney Marie Williams. Workers' compensation provides employees with medical care and lost wages for work-related injuries.

"Watch for insurance companies to takes this opportunity to raise premiums because there are going to be more guns out there," she said. "You should really talk to your insurance broker." Some insurers also offer separate plans that cover workplace violence.

Pinnacol Assurance, one of the state's largest workers' compensation insurers, said it's too soon to tell whether the new laws will affect rates.

"Nothing will be done in advance. We'll wait and see what happens," said spokesman Terry Eldrige. "It just opens up a whole box of unanswered questions. We are all trying to figure out what's going on."

Similar laws have been implemented in Texas, but that state has not seen workers' compensation rates go up because of them, said Terry Frakes, spokesman for Texas Mutual Insurance Co. in Austin.

"I've never heard of a claim coming in as a result of that. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened," he said. "It is plausible that something like that could happen, but I don't think right now you have enough experience to cause actuaries to re-adjust rates to reflect that possibility."

© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Proponents of the law say guns deter crime and increase safety, but most employers say they do not belong in the workplace.

Colorado's leftist extremists aren't snivelling and whining half as loudly as Minnesota's. They're trying, but they're just not succeeding. Maybe they should go on a fact-finding mission.

 

[Peter Gun]

What about the liability of forbidding legal weapons w/out provisions to prevent Illegal weapons from entering the workplace? We just saw the results of that negligence in MS.
The real story behind this lawyers warning: We are ready to take any lawsuit against any pockets over this issue. Make sure its not yours! (by paying us lawyers to tell you how to avoid us lawyers)

 

[deanf]

It's amazing how much of a lather people have worked themselves into over this. Washington's laws are pretty much like Colorado's relating to where you can carry, it it's simply not an issue with businesses.