posted on Monday, May 19, 2008 12:02 PM
by
Lou Michels
An Armed Workforce Is a Polite Workforce?
Starting at the beginning of July, managers and employees in Florida will have even less reason to hang around out in the parking lot after shift change. Florida residents, who typically have to worry about heat during the summer months, will now have to worry about people packing heat, at least in their workplace parking areas.
A Florida law that takes effect on July 1 will require most Florida public and private employers to allow employees and customers to bring lawfully possessed guns onto the employer's property. The only caveat is that your assault rifle has to be locked inside or locked to your pick-up truck of choice in the parking lot. Even better, employers may not ask their employees (or their customers) whether they are keeping guns in their cars, search the cars for a gun, take action against an employee based on statements from coworkers about the possession of a gun in the parking lot, or take action against anyone who whips out their Beretta, as long as the gun is never exhibited on company property for any reason other than lawful self-defense.
The new law does not apply to school property, correctional institutions, nuclear power plants, airports or defense contractor facilities, oil refineries, or other places where possession of a gun is prohibited under federal law or federal government contract.
I suspect the folks at Disney World, Sea World, and the Universal theme parks around Orlando are perhaps a tad nervous about this legislation. A similar law was enjoined in Oklahoma recently on the grounds that OSHA preempted it. Stay tuned.