'Guns' passes Senate, Crist likely to sign

The guns-to-work legislation just passed the Senate 26-13. One Democrat, Sen. Mandy Dawson, voted with Republicans.

"They did the right thing. The people of this state deserve to have their rights protected, and that what was done today," said NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, who watched the vote with former Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala. Gun rights advocates pushed the bill for three sessions.

The legislation (HB 503) prohibits businesses from barring employees who have concealed weapons permits from brining their guns to work and leaving them locked in a car. The measure has already passed the House, and now heads to Gov. Charlie Crist.

Crist indicated yesterday he is inclined to sign the bill. "I haven't made a final decision, but the Second Amendment is pretty important. It's the secone one," he told the Times. He said he was not moved by the claims of opponents that the bill tramples over private property rights. "Some are trying to make that juxtaposition," he said.

David Daniel, chief lobbyist for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said business will urge Crist to veto the bill. But, acknowledging the odds, he also said a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a law is "inevitable." Last year, a federal judge overturned a similar law in Oklahoma.

"Even in its watered down form, this bill still steals private property rights away from Floridians," Daniel said. "What gets lost in this debate is we used to stand with the NRA and fight big government telling us what we we're to do. It's odd."

Comments

[Association of British Quartermasters and Dragoons]

12:46

You Yankee scallawag. 'This the amendment thrice which has fraught considerble strain. Many pounds must be encumbered every fortnight for the existence of her royal majesty's forces in these haggard days. Certainly the exchequer's purse might be lightned if you wily colonials might merely open your abodes, trite and small though they might be.

... that gave me gas.

[Don't Forget the 9th Amendment]

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

[kevin]

This new legislation will go nicely with that other law whereas if one feels threatened one can open fire! Also, an unarmed petty thief would now only be a smash-n-grab from being an armed petty thief!

"Its the second one." Please tell me he didn't really say that. That's so scary.

[Tony]

Much false assumption on the part of the anti's here.

It's long been legal to have your gun in your car, this law only addresses the rights of the individual to do the same on a business property. Even without this law it is not illegal, the only thing a business owner can do is to ask you to leave if he believes you have a gun, he can ask you to leave for any reason or none at all anyway. Am employer could fire you, but there is no law being broken by carrying your gun at work unless you work at one of the places specifically addressed by the Florida statute relating to concealed carry. If the gun is concealed no business owner will ever see it, if they do it'd be because I am protecting my life, at that point I could care less what the business owner thinks, I'll leave as soon as I safely can.

Worry not my unarmed sheeple, I will never use my gun to protect one of you, becuase the chances are that if I do, you or someone like you will sue me for something. I'll just let you get shot as long as my life is not in danger.

The first fascist freak who tries to break into my truck to see if I have a gun in it… will find out the hard way that I also have a permit to carry one strapped to my ankle.

Tend your own damn business and you wont get hurt!

[Johnny Z]

Guns are extremely safe. Guns are extremely dangerous. The only difference in those two statements is a person who handles the gun.

Bullets were flying to the tune of thousands per hour. Dozens of weapons were being fired feet away from me. I suddenly realized that I had no fear whatsoever. I was at the gun club, and there was not an unfriendly soul there.

It ain't the gun. Its the owner.

the photo along with this thread says everything about why people are so confused. You can't even put up a photo with no bias.

[Andy]

Appaled, I have to agree on one of your points:

" As for protecting yourself in a parking lot, if attacked, the likelihood is that you would be getting into your car and not have access to your gun. As a result, if not armed already, you would probably wind up helping to supply a gun to someone who shouldn't have it. "

What we really need is to be able to carry inside the work area. I often dread when I have to terminate someone's employment. I never know how they will react? So I am a sitting duck waiting for the day to end and praying crazy Joe is not outside with his gun, or following me home! If I had the pistol on my person I would eliminate this threat and feel safer. Bet some students and family of the deceased wish a person had carried and defended against that nut!

Regardless of which side you're on, be aware this bill will be ruled struck down by the courts before it ever takes effect. A similar law in Oklahoma has already been struck down based on federal law requiring employers to provide a safe work environment. The court said if an employer believes prohibiting guns from being on the business property is required to make the workplace safe, then he/she is allowed to do so based on the federal law, which trumps state law.

Pure political play. Pass the bill and make the NRA happy. Then, the business groups sue and claim victory.

Andy,

If you own the company, you can put a gun in your desk if you like.

The point is the authority a business has to make such allowances.

Considering that 95% of the people on here are staffers in Tally, your spelling is atrocius. Please run your posts through SpellCheck in Microsoft Word before you embarass yourselves.

[morganan]

Is anyone else scared the Dr_Dug has several guns????

[osiicks]

If we make gun ownership illegal, then only the government and criminals will have them. The whole second amendment issue will be settled (favorably) in June by the supreme court.

Lock-n-load my fellow cubicle jockeys… lock-n-load… it’s review time and I’m betting I get a raise… THIS TIME!

[osiicks]

A citizen's right to keep and bear arms prevents the "like sheep to the slaughter...שואה" scenario. It keeps government and political parties in check.

[Bill]

Most people are not going to throw their life away by shooting someone at work. This bill allows citizens with no felonies to protect themselves going back and forth to work. It also allows people to protect their kids that they drop off at school or daycare.
Did you read about the woman who came out of her house at 5:am only to be carjacked, last week.
Well she works with my wife at a company that does not allow guns on the property. She never had a chance to defend herself if she wanted to.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

[rich]

The inside of my vehicle is not my employer's property, I don't give a damn where it's parked. The inside of my vehicle is MY property. There are guns inside of cars at almost all businesses & you never hear a word about it because the average working person is not a criminal.

[kitty]

What good is a gun when it's locked in a car and a psycho is rampaging through your workplace?

[kitty]

Good point Tony, but it's a two way street. What if someone overreacts and reaches for their weapon when it's not absolutely necessary, and shoots me or a loved one?

Guess who I would sue into bankruptcy?

rich - the inside may be your property - but if it's parked on your employer's property, your employer does not have to let you park there

Not much, but the one strapped to my ankle will take care of the freak... and you'll thank me when it's over.

The first fascist freak who tries to break into my truck to see if I have a gun in it… will find out the hard way that I also have a permit to carry one strapped to my ankle.

Tend your own damn business and you wont get hurt!

park your truck somewhere else and it won't be a problem.

[Tony]

Well Kitty, I am perfectly fine with your "what if". The choice to use a deadly weapon to protect oneself is not one that should be made in a cavalier manner. You can rest assured that if I do use my gun in public, I did so in fear of my life. No Rambo crap, just simple self defense. Now, if in the process of defending my life I accidentally take an innocent life, then I will likely be prosecuted for manslaughter. This puts the onus on me to make damn sure that discharging my weapon is appropriate and also that I have properly trained myself for just such a scenario.

I have an equal desire to stay free as I do to stay alive. The gun gives me the opportunity to do both, as long as I exercise proper judgement. The gun by itself is irrelevant.

3:29,

Tend your own damn business and you wont get hurt!

[Tony]

3:45 You are not helping the pro-gun side. Your style of communication is exactly what the anti's use to illustrate us as a bunch of trigger happy rednecks.

You need to outsmart them, the tough guy approach does not work.

3:45 go work somewhere else

4:12, move to China

Tony,

I don't need to help anyone's side. I'm an American, it's my right, you can't protect me, I'll protect me and mine, move to China if you don't like it... end of story.

Tony,

Why even pander to these no-gun wussies. Americans will never give up their rights to protect them selves. Our government can’t track illegal immigrants, what makes you think they could collect the guns. Plueeeeeasssse!

[Tony]

4:17 You're an army of one eh? Super tough keyboard commando, with an ankle holster to boot...funny stuff.

It's my right to speak my mind...maybe you should move to China if you don't like that. The 1st ammendment, have you heard of it? It's the one before the 2nd, lol.

So, when you find that your right to keep and bear arms has been taken away because you didn't need anyone to represent you in the judicial process, what will you protect then? You're worst than the anti's, at least they fight for what they believe in.

Btw, while you are wasting time trying to draw from an ankle holster, Joe Criminal will have pumped 6 rounds into you. Have you ever actually timed your draw and fire from that ankle holster? I doubt it, but I'll bet you've watched plenty of Rambo type movies, which makes you a tough guy right?

[Tony]

4:27 They want us to be silent, that's how they get anti-gun laws passed. Sure, the govt may have trouble collecting the guns, but not as much trouble as I'll have if I get caught with one if they became outlawed.

If your right to freedom of speech was in jeopardy, would you simply figure that the govt couldn't possibly shut everyone up, or would you rather it didn't come to pass to begin with?

Wide right, snail boy... wide right... you couldn't out draw a no armed, blind artist.

You freaks can play politics all you want with the malleable-minded jerkweeds... but you'll always know you can never get anyone's guns...

Smoke it up, pinko... smoke it up.

[Charlies Cameraman]

No problem here. We are not scheduled to be in Tallahassee until August. By then he will have forgot everything about the 2Nd one.

[Tonto]

You will give away your rights with the Patriot Act, but don't touch my gun? And I am a gun owner.

[louise kahle]

with the growing amount of violence in
our society this was the cherry on
the sundae.
now i know why residents are leaving
florida.high taxes. no jobs. and now
guns at work.

Correction, Tonto... I did not "give" away my rights with the right-to-spy... errr... Patriot Act... my rights were "taken" away by a commie government faction headed by Dubya!

[Tony]

Louise, high taxes and no jobs are negatives. What's the problem with guns at work? Can you explain exactly how this law is going to affect you? I doubt it, because the law is about having a gun in your car on business property, hardly guns at work is it?

It has also already been legal for people to have those guns in their cars on business property, it was at the same time legal for businesses to ask you to leave if they didn't want guns on their property, this law will take away that provision.

So again, how will this affect you, exactly?

Two things are true.

Right now in most employer parking lots there is at least one car with a gun in glove box. It's been there for years, and no one knows about it nor do they care.

This law does not change that, nor will it encourage the owner of said gun to suddenly want to advertise its presence.

Second, an employer in the state of FL can fire you for bad breath, poor communication skills, or any other reason their lawyers come up with if they really want to get rid of you and your weapon.

This law doesn't change that either.

So at the end of the day, a philosophical argument was won - but nothing really changed.

[Bill]

If somebody wants to go postal, a company rule will not stop them from bringing a gun to work. Stopping guns in cars just stops law abiding ccw permit holders from protecting themselves and children going back and forth to work and day care.
How many times has a woman been killed by a spouse with a restraining order?
Violating the restraining order is the least of his problems.
Same thing here, going postal at work, the least of that person's problem is that he broke the company rule.

[Tony]

Another true fact; everyday I and many others move among you unarmed people with guns in holsters. We eat at restaruants, shop at the mall and big box stores, go to the movies, buy groceries and get gas. All the while you are blissfully unaware and lo and behold none of those legally carried guns are jumping out of holsters and scaring you poor sheeple to death. Imagine that!

If in order for you to feel safe, you need to infringe upon my right, you have failed Constitution 101

[John]

I'm curious to know where "Annie Oakley" (11:24) got a concealed weapons permit over breakfast, without any training... If that's what it is she got.

[UF Alumni]

Everyone on this blog is a Constitutional expert yet no one has noticed that the phrase "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" isn't in Bill of Rights. Those words appear in the Declaration of Independence which is not a document of laws like the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

[Buckeye]

Leave it to a gaytor to post something without addressing the issue at hand.

Why don't you at least educate us all on the legal basis of this bill as it pertains to the 2A? It's the least an esteemed Constitutional law professor such as yourself could do for us.

[jeff]

Insanity rules once again under the misguided, fascist tiny minds and their perverse love affair with guns. Republican conservatism is the true enemy of this great country. These NRA whackos have more American blood on their hands than all terrorist organizations combined. Their disgusting opposition to any kind of reasonable controls on guns has caused thousands of deaths and will continue to do so. These so-called patriots actually have argued that the criminally insane should be able to possess a gun. The NRA should be treated as a terrorist organization and banned just like the KKK or any other anti-American organization. The founding fathers would be rolling in their graves if they could see how the blood-thirsty tiny minds have completely distorted the 2nd amendment. This country is doomed if we follow the path of the rightwingers - those that put their party ahead of their country. They make me sick.

[Al Gore]

Hey Liberal Communist DirtBags.....

I have a gun, and rely on it for self protection....

Unlike Rosie O', Fat Teddy Kennedy, and Barack Osama who have armed bodyguards......

I am loving the Osama/Hillary/Dean debacle!!!!!!!!!!

Keep up the GREAT work!

The first fascist freak who tries to break into my truck to see if I have a gun in it… will find out the hard way that I also have a permit to carry one strapped to my ankle.

Tend your own damn business and you wont get hurt!