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Hammer and Bitter on the Parking Lot Bill |
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Gregory Morris, 5/1/08 8:32:24 am |
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Hammer: "OUR RIGHT-TO-CARRY IS UNDER ATTACK!"
Bitter: "NO IT’S NOT!"
I think Marion is mostly trying to get people's attention. She tends to use scary, alarmist words anyway... which I don't always agree with, but you can't deny the results.
The problem Bitter has with the title of her memo is that "right-to-carry" is generally assumed by most of us to mean "I can carry a concealed weapon, with a license." It is reasonable to feel this way, since that's what the NRA has been pushing as "right-to-carry" since the very first shall-issue RTC laws were passed. If someone asked me what RTC means, I would immediately point to my concealed weapon permit. That is not under attack.
Consider, however, in the state of Florida anyone who may legally own a gun may keep one loaded and "securely encased" in their vehicle, just about anywhere they go, no license required. That is also "carrying" and it is also our right.
The "parking lot bill" that was recently passed by the legislature, and signed by Governor Crist, is now under legal attack from businesses in Florida. The law guarantees that you can have a legally owned gun in your car in your employer's parking lot. I'm not arguing how good or bad the bill is here (if you've read my blog at all, you'll know how I feel about it.) I just want to point out that being able to keep a gun in your car also means you are allowed to have one in your car during your commute. If you can be fired for having a gun in your car, then your company is basically forcing you to leave your gun at home (or seek new employment.) In that sense, some people's "right to carry" is being attacked by their anti-gun employers.
There is a legitimate discussion going on right now about a business's property rights versus an individual's property rights. I still feel the law will hold under judicial scrutiny, even if I don't agree 100% with the implementation. There are bound to be fear-mongering and alarmist rhetorical battles about this law for the foreseeable future. Still, I want to caution anyone who attacks Marion Hammer that she is a top notch lobbyist, and does what she does, the way she does it, because it gets results. "Parking lot bills" are part of the current NRA strategy right now, and she was instrumental in getting one passed and signed. We need to either go along with the NRA and support their campaign, or as members convince them to change their strategy. Attacking them for doing what we pay them to do isn't going to help.
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| | [Comments are closed after a month.] |
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| < "Referers" | | "Palm -> Forehead" > |
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