OK for guns in cars set for Nov. 1
Posted by: Admin on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 11:36 AM |
 |
By Ken Raymond
Staff Writer
A law intended to keep gun owners from being fired from their jobs for having legal guns inside their locked vehicles is set to take effect in November. Transporting guns
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation gives these guidelines for transporting guns.
People with conceal-carry permits can have hidden, loaded handguns in their vehicles if they have their permits with them. People without permits can transport unloaded guns. Ammunition and guns must be kept in separate compartments. Gun owners of both types can haul rifles and shotguns as long as they are unloaded and visible. Loaded rifles and shotguns can be transported, as long as no rounds are chambered and the firearms are locked in a trunk or exterior compartment. House Bill 2122 -- an addition and amendment to Oklahoma's Self Defense Act -- will alter current law under which companies can establish policies and post signs banning firearms on all company property. The new measure affects parking areas. "You can still prohibit people from bringing them (guns) into your company's buildings, if that's what you want to do," said Miles Hall, president of Oklahoma City's H&H Indoor Gun Range and a supporter of the change. "But the employer's domain, if you will, no longer goes as far as the employee's car." Rep. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, said he wrote the bill after people he knew were fired at a paper company when guns were found in their vehicles during a drug sweep. "These were people who'd been there for 25, 30 years," Ellis said. "There's no reason they should've fired them for this ... because these people weren't a threat to anyone. These were good people." Under the new law, he said, those workers would have been protected. "Private companies cannot come up with policies that counter state law. ... Come Nov. 1, they (workers) can bring their guns back to work and put them in a locked vehicle as long as they're not felons," Ellis said. Schools and federal property are exempt, Ellis said. As of yet, of course, the law has not been tested. But even though it falls within an act governing concealed weapons, Ellis and others agreed, the law should have implications for most gun owners. "It applies to everyone across the board," said attorney Doug Riesen, who studied the bill. "This takes away the right of the employers to control guns on their property -- but not inside their buildings." Oklahoma City police said they aren't sure what effect, if any, the law will have. "We're taking a wait-and-see attitude on this change," police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. But we're not convinced it's going to have a significant impact on law enforcement." Byron "Bo" Boshell, who heads security for Integris Health, said the change could be cause for concern. But to Hall, the change makes sense. "People were carrying before this law came along," he said. "This just makes it appropriate for us all to do it correctly." http://newsok.com/article/1303848/?template=news/main
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
