Tennessee lawmakers argue over guns-at-work bill

[RamboLiberal]

NASHVILLE — Gun rights and property rights advocates clashed on the House floor today over legislation encouraging employers to let workers with handgun-carry permits keep firearms in their vehicles while parked on company property.

The bill sought to nudge employers into allowing workers to store weapons in their locked vehicles by exempting them from lawsuits arising from any incident.

But Second Amendment proponents argued the bill did not go far enough. They sought to amend it in order to force employers to let permit holders keep their guns in vehicles.

“In my opinion, my vehicle is my personal property,” said Rep. Eddie Bass, D-Prospect, who offered the amendment mandating that permit holders could keep weapons in their vehicles.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/apr/27/tennessee-lawmakers-argue-over-guns-work-bill/?breakingnews

[msongs]

1. so they want to carry their guns all over someone else's private property. In houses next? nt

[DonP]

3. Reading is fundamental

It's only about being allowed to keep their gun secured in their own car, if it's parked on company property. The car is their private property.

Or do you think the company owners should be able to tell you what else you are not allowed to keep in the car. How about bumper stickers and campaign literature they might not like?

[PavePusher]

7. So, are you offering to provide security on their way to and from work? n/t

[AC_Mem]

2. You gotta be kidding me

Guns at work.

Really.

I gotta move. Vermont is looking better every day....

Annette

[Travis_0004]

5. Whats wrong with the propesed law?

People who have guns go shooting. A lot of times its easier to throw a gun in your trunk, go to work, then go shooting afterwards. I've done it tons of times.

By the way, vermont has some of the most lax gun laws in the country, including carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

[DonP]

6. That's the place to go if you don't like gun laws

Vermont has no carry restrictions, so anyone can carry anytime they want to wit no training, permit or licensing requirements.

I'm not sure about the laws on leaving it in your car, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were no restrictions on that either.

But it's not "guns at work", it's leaving your gun secured in your car while you're at work.

[PavePusher]

8. Heh, good luck with that.... n/t

[TheWraith]

9. Vermont has the loosest gun laws in the country.

No restrictions whatsoever on concealed carry, not even a permit required. No permission for local towns or cities to enact their own more restrictive laws. No restrictions on types of guns, where and how you keep them, or magazine capacity. You can have a semi-auto rifle and 60 rounds of ammo in the back seat of your car at work, no one will say boo. And yet, Vermont still manages not to be a 24/7 bloodbath. So, maybe the guns have nothing to do with it?

[AC_Mem]

10. Well great.

So Vermont is out too :)

[TheWraith]

11. Good for you. In the meantime, Vermont continues to be our finest state.

You're welcome to live somewhere with much more restrictive laws, like Texas or Alabama.

[petronius]

13. Maybe that's not the point you should take from it. When you didn't know that VT

was so gun-friendly, the state seemed very attractive. Perhaps the real message is that gun-rights and a gun-permissive atmosphere are in fact not the dangerous and negative aspects they've been made out by some to be?

[AC_Mem]

18. Wow

nice, DU gun lovers. I get attacked for being opposed to guns. Nice. Very liberal of you guys.

I had a boss a couple years ago who I cared for very much. He suffered a breakdown that I had to watch him go through daily for almost a year. I was very worried about what he might do and cried myself home from work many many nights.

Then one day I was in his office and he opened his desk drawer and I looked down and there was a gun.

My brother, many years ago, had a breakdown and took a gun and shot it up toward my children. The bullet went through a window 6" above my beloved son's head. He was 14 at the time. About 5 years after that, as he was delivering a pizza (to help pay for his college), he was told to lay on the ground or have his brains blown out. A gun was held to his head for $25.00 and some change.

So, to all of you who so quickly attack someone who is opposed to guns around the workplace or any other place, try a little compassion for those of us who may have damn good reason to have another opinion.

I'll be sure to not post my thoughts about guns around here again - thanks for that, too.

Commercial played in my city during 2010 election time "Vote ___ (insert conservative gop), he's pro-life an pro-guns, and I like that!"

:(

[petronius]

19. I'm sorry if my post seemed like an attack, it wasn't meant to be

From your post about Tennessee, it seemed as though you considered TN a less desirable place to live because a gun law was being loosened. We are often told that looser gun laws will lead to increased violence and mayhem, so I naturally concluded that you were expecting TN to become less safe. However, you apparently view VT as a safe and desirable place to live, based on your assessment of VT crime rates, quality of life, and so on.

It seemed to me that the disconnect between the 'common knowledge' that guns lead to mayhem, and the safety of gun-friendly VT was a point worth considering, and that your reflexive response of 'time to get out of TN' may not have been based on facts - so I suggested that you may want to consider other interpretations.

That said, you are free to dislike, detest, or oppose gun ownership as strongly as you want, for whatever reasons you want - and I'd encourage you to continue to post your thoughts (civil conversation is always welcome around here; we just have to ignore some of the noise)...

[DonP]

15. Come to totally gun free Chicago!

You can get really good real estate deals in Cook County in places like Englewood, Pilsen and other neighborhoods.

We're one of only two states with no concealed carry and no open carry either! We're even better than the cheese heads in Wisconsin where they can carry on their belts.

They are still maintaining a complete gun ban here in the city and County so you can wander the streets at night with cash hanging out of your pockets and never have to worry about law abiding citizens with evil guns in their pockets.

No law abiding citizen is allowed to carry a gun, so you'll feel perfectly at ease on the Red Line or the 147 Bus.

It's exactly the kind of gun free place you fantasize about.

[Bold Lib]

4. My gun in my car is none of my employers business. Of course

in my case I am the employer.

[oneshooter]

12. And I bet the boss can be a real ass sometimes! n/t

[spin]

14. Good one. (n/t)

[Bold Lib]

16. Clever. lol

[Logical]

17. What else can work prevent you from having in your car? Beer? Cigs? Playboys? n-t