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Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Guns in employee cars: Let bill die
Published on: 03/30/07
In Georgia, employers can forbid Girl Scout cookies on their property, but they may soon be unable to ban assault rifles.
Under Senate Bill 43, which was dealt a serious but not fatal blow this week, private businesses would be forced to permit employees to keep guns in cars parked on company property. It represents a mortal assault on the right of businesses to set standards for their employees and their private property.
Under current law, for example, an employer has the right to ban extreme body piercings and tattoos, or to insist on jackets and ties. An employer can prohibit workers from showing up at work with Girl Scout cookie order forms or raffle tickets. And for the moment, they can still tell employees to leave their guns at home.
On Tuesday â€" the deadline for a bill to pass at least one chamber of the Legislature to be eligible for passage this session â€" state senators were expected to debate and vote on SB 43, but tragedy intervened. A workplace shooting that morning in Atlanta provided a chilling reminder of just what's at stake on this issue, dissuading the state Senate from debating the bill.
That should have killed the bill, but attempts are under way to revive it by tacking its language onto another gun bill, permitting drivers to conceal handguns under the car seat or elsewhere in their vehicle.
As Tuesday's shooting demonstrated, guns in the workplace pose a danger to everyone. A 2005 study by the American Journal of Public Health found that workplaces in which guns were permitted were five to seven times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide than job sites where guns were outlawed.
As the American Bar Association notes, 80 percent of the 1,000 workplace killings each year involve guns. In its statement opposing SB 43, the ABA defends "traditional property rights of private employers and other private property owners to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons."
SB 43 is an unnecessary and dangerous piece of legislation with no purpose other than to rally the ranks of the National Rifle Association and allow it to flex its muscle. While the bill may thrill the most hard-core NRA members, other NRA members and many of the group's longtime allies understand just how extreme its provisions really are.
The bill ought to be left to die.
â€" Maureen Downey, for the editorial board ([email protected])
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Guns in employee cars: Let bill die
Published on: 03/30/07
In Georgia, employers can forbid Girl Scout cookies on their property, but they may soon be unable to ban assault rifles.
Under Senate Bill 43, which was dealt a serious but not fatal blow this week, private businesses would be forced to permit employees to keep guns in cars parked on company property. It represents a mortal assault on the right of businesses to set standards for their employees and their private property.
Under current law, for example, an employer has the right to ban extreme body piercings and tattoos, or to insist on jackets and ties. An employer can prohibit workers from showing up at work with Girl Scout cookie order forms or raffle tickets. And for the moment, they can still tell employees to leave their guns at home.
On Tuesday â€" the deadline for a bill to pass at least one chamber of the Legislature to be eligible for passage this session â€" state senators were expected to debate and vote on SB 43, but tragedy intervened. A workplace shooting that morning in Atlanta provided a chilling reminder of just what's at stake on this issue, dissuading the state Senate from debating the bill.
That should have killed the bill, but attempts are under way to revive it by tacking its language onto another gun bill, permitting drivers to conceal handguns under the car seat or elsewhere in their vehicle.
As Tuesday's shooting demonstrated, guns in the workplace pose a danger to everyone. A 2005 study by the American Journal of Public Health found that workplaces in which guns were permitted were five to seven times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide than job sites where guns were outlawed.
As the American Bar Association notes, 80 percent of the 1,000 workplace killings each year involve guns. In its statement opposing SB 43, the ABA defends "traditional property rights of private employers and other private property owners to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons."
SB 43 is an unnecessary and dangerous piece of legislation with no purpose other than to rally the ranks of the National Rifle Association and allow it to flex its muscle. While the bill may thrill the most hard-core NRA members, other NRA members and many of the group's longtime allies understand just how extreme its provisions really are.
The bill ought to be left to die.
â€" Maureen Downey, for the editorial board ([email protected])
