04-16-2008, 11:47 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Eponymous
Location: Central Central Florida
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Guns at work
This scares the hell out of me. There are lots of psychos and sickos in this transient state. I think we're going to see much more violence than we already do.
Quote:
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Florida Gov. Crist signs guns at work bill
Associated Press
7:22 PM EDT, April 15, 2008
TALLAHASSEE
Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill into law on Tuesday that will allow Florida residents to keep guns locked in their cars at work.
Gun owners, however, shouldn't start taking their weapons to work right away. The law doesn't take effect until July, and the business community is already planning to challenge the new legislation in court. A lawsuit on the issue could be filed as soon as next week.
Under the new law, businesses cannot prohibit employees or customers from keeping a legally owned gun locked inside their cars, as long as the owner has a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Guns will still be off limits at some sites: schools, prisons, nuclear power plants, military facilities and buildings that store explosives.
Supporters of the law say people have a constitutional right under the Second Amendment to carry firearms and should be able to keep guns in their cars for protection. Business owners have argued they have a constitutional right to set the rules on their own property. They say they should be able to ban guns there if they choose, in order to protect employees and patrons.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation have already hired an attorney to sue the state over the new law.
The grounds for the challenge will be based on the Constitution's Fifth Amendment, said attorney Barry Richard, who plans to file the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the two organizations as soon as next week.
That amendment forbids the government from taking a person's private property without compensation.
Although the government would not actually be transferring title of the property from the owner, the law would be placing a new restriction on private property by forcing businesses to store unwanted guns, Richard said.
There will most likely be other aspects to the challenge, but Richard said he's still putting his case together.
Marion Hammer, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said she doesn't believe the new law conflicts with the Constitution. It only upholds rights citizens already have, she said.
``I think that if businesses want to spend their money in an effort to deprive their customers and law abiding employees of their constitutional right, it's shameful,'' Hammer said.
If the state is sued, it will be defended by the Office of the Attorney General. Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for the office, said Attorney General Bill McCollum has been supportive of the legislation in the past but that the office will defend the state against any lawsuit to the best of its ability.
The Florida law is similar to legislation in several other states, including Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The law in Oklahoma was overturned last year by a judge who said it conflicted with a federal work-safety laws. That state's attorney general has appealed the ruling.
Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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sun-sentinel.com/news/local/legislature/sfl-0415gunsbill,0,5138666.story
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We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain
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