Texas Parking Lot Law

[Strykervet]

Well, you have rules and you have laws. I'm careful about laws. I break rules with great enthusiasm. Basically, if I can't be arrested for it, I do it without hesitation, I don't even think about it either.

Having an employer search a vehicle is to me, totally out of the question. I won't even let a cop search without a warrant, and I never ever give permission to search. Letting someone, anyone, search your property can't benefit you in any way. Disallowing it at least gives you a leg to stand on.

That said, my wife had her permit back in the day. She carried to work one time and someone spotted the piece in her bag, she got threatened with firing, and she stopped. But she works property management, by herself, and after dark during our long dark winters. They weren't concerned with her safety at all, just with their policy.

So she got her permit back (she let it expire) and now carries anyway, keeps a G17 in a hidden pocket in her bag. No way it would be spotted now, not unless they dug through her bag in which case they've got another problem.

Pee tests, background checks, now this. When corporations and governments mix, that is called facism. To me, some jobs just aren't worth it. If more people felt that way, they'd either change their policy or go out of business. Where do you draw the line and stand up and say, "This is enough?"

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

Actually, the OP's employer probably is.

yeah i just read the article. there's much more to things like this though. such as, are local counties/cities allowed to enact stricter laws? do employers still have discretion?

you have to realize, this law may simply be a legalization of what was previously illegal in the OP's state. it may not mean employers can't still disallow it. he needs to check on it his self.

 

[TexasBill]

Where do you draw the line and stand up and say, "This is enough?"

These days, either when you win the lottery or when you have another for-sure job lined up.

This is a new law and it's going to take a while to wear down some of those companies that fought it so hard. They can't legally fire an employee for doing what the law says is allowed but they can sure take it out on them in other ways.

BTW: Posting a 30.06 sign on a parking lot has no effect. Texas law does not consider parking lots (owned, leased or otherwise) to be premises. In addition, the new law does not require you to have a CHL to have a concealed handgun in your own motor vehicle, just to be in lawful possession.

 

[JohnKSa]

Having an employer search a vehicle is to me, totally out of the question. I won't even let a cop search without a warrant, and I never ever give permission to search. Letting someone, anyone, search your property can't benefit you in any way. Disallowing it at least gives you a leg to stand on.

Actually just the reverse is true.

TX is an at will employment/right to work state which means that the employer can fire you for any reason he wishes as long as it's not illegal to do so.

If the employer fires you for having a gun in your vehicle you have recourse since TX law says the employer can't fire you for having a gun in your vehicle.

But if the employer fires you because you refused to let him search your vehicle you have no recourse because there's no TX law saying that it's illegal for an employer to make a vehicle search a condition of your continued employment.

there's much more to things like this though.

Not in this case.

such as, are local counties/cities allowed to enact stricter laws? do employers still have discretion?

No and no. The state reserves the right to make laws regarding the transportation and possession of firearms. The new law has very limited exceptions that are carefully spelled out and that do not apply in this case. The employer has no discretion unless they fall under one of the exceptions.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...do employers still have discretion?

you have to realize, this law may simply be a legalization of what was previously illegal in the OP's state. it may not mean employers can't still disallow it...

[1] No, employers do not have discretion.

[2] The law does not simply legalize something previously illegal. In fact it does the opposite: it makes illegal what was previously legal, i. e., an employer firing an employee for having a lawfully possessed gun locked in his car on company property.

[3] And no, an employer can not still disallow it, unless one of the exceptions applies.

Note that similar laws have already been enacted in a number of States, including Oklahoma, Florida, Kentucky and Utah. I believe there have been court tests sustaining such laws in at least in Oklahoma and Florida.

A copy of the bill, as enacted and signed by the Governor, is attached.

 

[Guillermo]

The company's 30.06 sign outside the parking lot is not legally binding. The legislative intent of the parking lot bill is to make it legal for you to have your otherwise legally possessed firearm in your car.

Despite their idiotic attempt to twist the 30.06 sign to their purposes, you can legally keep a gun in your car in the parking lot. Their rules do not supersede state law.

Personally I would make a big stink and if they fired me I would sue them. Not only as a company but the officers individually.

If it got beyond that I too would go beyond that.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...Personally I would make a big stink and if they fired me I would sue them. Not only as a company but the officers individually...

Not a particularly good strategy. It potentially leaves the OP out of work, and without an income, while the litigation runs its course. And naming officers personally is sometimes a useful tactic, but really doesn't mean much. The company will provide the officers with their defense and indemnify them.

A better approach would be to enlist one of the Texas RKBA organizations to finance litigation to help preserve the legislation they succeeded in having enacted. With an appropriate plaintiff having standing, like the OP, they then seek an injunction against the employer to prevent enforcement of the company policy, or they file for declaratory relief, if Texas law provides for such an action. One of those approaches allows the question to be resolved in the courts without necessarily putting someone's job at risk.

Another advantage of seeking an injunction or pursuing declaratory relief is that these are often more economical to pursue.

 

[Guillermo]

Not a particularly good strategy

You may be right.

I opine that the cover of a boardroom gives evil bastards cover. Perhaps not smart but I want to go straight at them.

 

[Frank Ettin]

....I opine that the cover of a boardroom gives evil bastards cover. Perhaps not smart but I want to go straight at them.

Understand that getting sued is not a big deal for an officer of a large corporation. It happens, and an officer will take it in stride. Being an officer of a large company is very stressful in any case, and one would not be able to handle the job unless he could also stand to be sued on occasion. And the company will be picking up the cost of the defense and any judgment as long as the officer was adhering to company policy.

I've never known an officer of a large company to lose any sleep over being named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit against the company.

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

You really want to risk getting fired, then pay a lawyer to file a suite just to keep a gun in your car that will be of no use to you at work? Times are tough, bro, and they're getting worse. Obviously, I'm all for pro gun rights, but weigh your priorities carefully.

 

[Mike1234567]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sad but true..........

They have us by the proverbial reticles.

 

[Guillermo]

there are other options

but you are right

 

[zxcvbob]

Minnesota has the same parking lot law.

Just keep your mouth shut, and if you choose, ignore the unenforceable policy and the unenforceable 30.06 sign. They may have a terms-of-employment that you agreed to that vehicles are subject to search at all times on company property (to check for stolen company property is about the only legitimate reason for this) and if they pick you and you refuse they'll fire you -- and you have no recourse. If they pick your car and you allow the search and they find the properly-stored gun and they fire you, you can sue them for wrongful termination. You might not even have to sue them, the Attorney General or the TEC might sue them for you.

If you raise a big stink about it ahead of time, they will fire you for "we no longer require your services", and there's nothing you can do about that.

"IANAL", and even if I were I'm not *your* lawyer.