Winchester 73
member
This couple worked for Disney for decades.Now they run a lunch truck.
Stay away from the "Mouse" and don't spend money there if you can.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/04/09/0409xgrguns.html
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
TALLAHASSEE — Nearly all workers, except teachers and those who make fireworks, would be able to bring their guns to work and leave them locked up in their vehicles under a bill Gov. Charlie Crist says he'll sign.
The Senate gave final approval to the bill on Wednesday.
Under the measure, employees would be required to have concealed weapons licenses to bring the guns to the workplace. But those records are secret under state law and employers would have no way of verifying the permits.
The bill, backed by the gun lobby, would also allow shoppers and diners to leave their weapons locked in their cars at malls, restaurants or other retail establishments. They, too, would be required to have a concealed weapons license.
"People being protected is most important to me," said Crist, who is a member of the National Rifle Association.
The bill does allow some businesses, including defense contractors or those that manufacture explosives, to bar guns on the premises.
While public schools are also excluded, critics object that the exemptions do not go far enough because workers would be allowed to carry weapons to day care centers.
"There is a right an employer has ... a property right to ensure that he is protecting his employees," said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton.
The Senate passed the House bill (HB 503) along party lines by a 26-13 vote.
Gun advocates, including National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, believe that the U.S. Constitution guarantees workers the right to bring their weapons to work.
"This is simple. It's about a legal person that owns a legal firearm parked in a car that's legal locked up in a parking lot," said Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, the bill's sponsor.
Hammer, who previously served as the national NRA president, applauded the bill's passage.
"This bill provides employees with the mechanism to be able to protect themselves traveling to and from work. This bill doesn't do anything new," she said.
For the second year in a row, the bill catapulted the competing constitutional rights of gun owners and business owners to restrict what is on their property into the limelight.
Last year, lawmakers were poised to pass a similar measure when the massacre at Virginia Tech took place.
"It was April 16 of 2007 that we had the most tragic incident in this country related to guns on university campuses and this bill was moving at rapid speed last year. We're one week short of the anniversary of that tragedy and here we are again. We had the good sense to stop it last year because it was not the right thing to do," said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.
The NRA backs the proposal because of employers like Walt Disney World who searched workers' cars and fired them for violating company policy prohibiting weapons in parking lots.
Decade-long Disney employees Doug and Linda Gray had the front window to their home shot out twice, once nearly missing Linda Gray's head and were also the victims of a 7-mile road-rage attack en route home from work, they said.
They said they did what law enforcement officers advised them to do: They purchased a revolver and kept it locked beneath the seat of the car during the hourlong journey from their home in Poinsiana to Kissimmee that began each workday at 4:15 a.m.
The .38-caliber Smith & Wesson might have made the Grays feel safer, but it cost them the jobs they held at the theme park, where they met and vacationed with their five grandchildren.
The Grays are now banned from Disney property and own a lunch truck.
Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky and Minnesota have approved laws allowing employees to take their guns to work, but an Oklahoma judge struck down a similar law saying it violated federal employment laws.
The Florida law, should Crist sign it, is different because it includes the concealed weapons license provision unlike the other states,' but opponents have threatened to sue nonetheless.
"Does that surprise anybody? You know if there are things that usually get put into law that some other group doesn't like they usually go to the courts and they have that right. I'll probably sign it," Crist said.
Stay away from the "Mouse" and don't spend money there if you can.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/04/09/0409xgrguns.html
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
TALLAHASSEE — Nearly all workers, except teachers and those who make fireworks, would be able to bring their guns to work and leave them locked up in their vehicles under a bill Gov. Charlie Crist says he'll sign.
The Senate gave final approval to the bill on Wednesday.
Under the measure, employees would be required to have concealed weapons licenses to bring the guns to the workplace. But those records are secret under state law and employers would have no way of verifying the permits.
The bill, backed by the gun lobby, would also allow shoppers and diners to leave their weapons locked in their cars at malls, restaurants or other retail establishments. They, too, would be required to have a concealed weapons license.
"People being protected is most important to me," said Crist, who is a member of the National Rifle Association.
The bill does allow some businesses, including defense contractors or those that manufacture explosives, to bar guns on the premises.
While public schools are also excluded, critics object that the exemptions do not go far enough because workers would be allowed to carry weapons to day care centers.
"There is a right an employer has ... a property right to ensure that he is protecting his employees," said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton.
The Senate passed the House bill (HB 503) along party lines by a 26-13 vote.
Gun advocates, including National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, believe that the U.S. Constitution guarantees workers the right to bring their weapons to work.
"This is simple. It's about a legal person that owns a legal firearm parked in a car that's legal locked up in a parking lot," said Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, the bill's sponsor.
Hammer, who previously served as the national NRA president, applauded the bill's passage.
"This bill provides employees with the mechanism to be able to protect themselves traveling to and from work. This bill doesn't do anything new," she said.
For the second year in a row, the bill catapulted the competing constitutional rights of gun owners and business owners to restrict what is on their property into the limelight.
Last year, lawmakers were poised to pass a similar measure when the massacre at Virginia Tech took place.
"It was April 16 of 2007 that we had the most tragic incident in this country related to guns on university campuses and this bill was moving at rapid speed last year. We're one week short of the anniversary of that tragedy and here we are again. We had the good sense to stop it last year because it was not the right thing to do," said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.
The NRA backs the proposal because of employers like Walt Disney World who searched workers' cars and fired them for violating company policy prohibiting weapons in parking lots.
Decade-long Disney employees Doug and Linda Gray had the front window to their home shot out twice, once nearly missing Linda Gray's head and were also the victims of a 7-mile road-rage attack en route home from work, they said.
They said they did what law enforcement officers advised them to do: They purchased a revolver and kept it locked beneath the seat of the car during the hourlong journey from their home in Poinsiana to Kissimmee that began each workday at 4:15 a.m.
The .38-caliber Smith & Wesson might have made the Grays feel safer, but it cost them the jobs they held at the theme park, where they met and vacationed with their five grandchildren.
The Grays are now banned from Disney property and own a lunch truck.
Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky and Minnesota have approved laws allowing employees to take their guns to work, but an Oklahoma judge struck down a similar law saying it violated federal employment laws.
The Florida law, should Crist sign it, is different because it includes the concealed weapons license provision unlike the other states,' but opponents have threatened to sue nonetheless.
"Does that surprise anybody? You know if there are things that usually get put into law that some other group doesn't like they usually go to the courts and they have that right. I'll probably sign it," Crist said.