SB 51 Goes to the Governor for Signature

[dzelenka]

The Senate concurred in its passage. It heads to Jindal's desk.

 

[dawg23]

The Senate concurred in its passage. It heads to Jindal's desk.

I spoke to one of Senator McPherson's aides a couple of times last week ....once right after the final house vote, and once more after the House/Senate committee conference. She said McPherson was certain the certain the Governor would sign the bill.

She also said he is comfortable with the final amendments. She said he believes it still accomplishes the things he set out to do, and that there is plenty of protection for folks who want to keep a firearm in a vehicle (even thought the "right to sue" provisions were stripped from the final bill).

 

[XD-GEM]

Although the "right to sue" provisions were stripped from the bill, there was also no language added to prevent you from suing. IMO, by removing the language in the original bill, they also removed the quite small penalty and left it open for the couts to decide any penalty for violation.

 

[dawg23]

I guess everyone saw the Friday (July 4) edition of the Baton Rouge Advocate. The LCA, LCIA, ABC, LMOGA and some paper mill association are lobbying hard to get the Govenor to veto this bill.

Guess we'll see who has more clout - the NRA or the petrochemical lobby. Here's the text of the article:

Five trade associations that represent many of the state’s largest employers Thursday asked the governor to veto legislation that would allow employees to carry weapons to work.

If Gov. Bobby Jindal follows their advice, he will anger a group of staunch supporters: the gun lobby. If he doesn’t veto, Jindal likely will anger another base of supporters: large corporations that control hundreds of thousands of jobs in Louisiana.

“Sometimes you have to pick among friends. It’s not a pleasant thing to do,” said Dan Borné, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, which represents 65 chemical corporations, and the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, which represents about 600 companies that supply and service the chemical plants.

In addition, the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., the Louisiana Pulp and Paper Association and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association also wrote Jindal asking him to veto Senate Bill 51, which they call the “bring your gun to work” bill.

“We’ve given the governor good solid reasons to veto this bill,” Borné said Thursday.

The opponents raise several issues including the argument that SB51 precludes their rights as private property owners to decide if someone can bring firearms onto their property.

In May, Jindal received the Harlon B. Carter award from the National Rifle Association, the nationwide advocate for gun owners’ rights. He was awarded for challenging efforts by police to confiscate more than 1,000 guns after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Jindal did not respond to a request for an interview.

“I would be shocked if the governor vetoed the NRA’s hallmark piece of legislation,” said state Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth. “Literally, thousands of members of the NRA, who worked to elect Bobby Jindal, worked to pass this bill.”

McPherson sponsored SB51, which allows a person to have a legal firearm in a locked, privately owned vehicle in any parking area.

McPherson said the legislation seeks to help employees who are fired after unwittingly carrying a firearm in their personal vehicle because they went hunting before or after work.

“In most cases it was them bragging about their hunting and being turned in by fellow workers,” McPherson said Thursday. “This is not a philosophical debate.”

“We’re not at all against people hunting before or after their shifts,” Borné said. “We’re just saying don’t bring your guns to our private parking lots. We realize it could be an inconvenience.”

Borné said employers have an obligation to keep employees safe.

He and the others writing letters mentioned the incident last week at a Dixon, Ky., plastics plant in which 25-year-old Wesley N. Higdon allegedly argued with his supervisor about wearing safety goggles. Higdon then allegedly went to his car in the workplace parking lot, retrieved a .45-caliber pistol and killed five co-workers and himself.

“We think the recent shooting rampage at a Kentucky plastics plant highlights the safety concerns of our members,” wrote Chris John, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, in a letter dated June 26 but made public Thursday.

“SB51 prohibits Louisiana employers from assuring, to the maximum degree, that their employees will leave their job safely each and every day,” wrote Alvin M. Bargas, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

Gary L. O’Rielly, executive director of the Louisiana Pulp and Paper Association, wrote, “Our objection to SB51 is it takes away everyone’s ‘Private Property Rights’ without consideration for the safety of our employees and just as importantly, our visitors to our mills and plants in Louisiana.”

 

[aroundlsu]

Um I thought it was signed already?

 

[Manimal]

In Louisiana...I would put my money on the Petrochemical Lobby but Jindal knows that he'd suffer one hell of a hit on his support from Conservatives and 2nd Amendment lovers...(not republicans b/c they'll excuse him for one reason or another, just true Conservatives & supporters of the 2nd A.)

 

[XD-GEM]

Signed by the Governor on 7/2/08, enrolled as Act 684 of this Legislative session.

 

[dawg23]

Signed by the Governor on 7/2/08, enrolled as Act 684 of this Legislative session.

That's what is posted on the LA. Legislature website. I have assumed (yeah, I know what happens when you assume) that the lobbyists for LCA and LCIA were more on top of this (how's that for lousy grammar) than the legislature's website.

I hope the LCA and LCIA boys were sound asleep - sorta like they were during the session.

Have to wonder, though, why The Advocate hasn't reported the signing ?

 

[dantheman]

I'm disappointed at all of the exceptions that watered this thing down . Where I work , the parking lot is fenced with an automatic gate . The company COULD forbid us to bring firearms on the property according to this bill . Luckily , the union got involved and talked the company into allowing weapons in a locked personal vehicle . There are other stupid exceptions as well .

 

[XD-GEM]

Don't be too disappointed. The exceptions were modified on the last day and now read as follows:

(3) Any vehicle on property controlled by a public or private employer or business entity if access is restricted or limited through the use of a fence, gate, security station, signage, or other means of restricting or limiting general public access onto the parking area, and if one of the following conditions applies:
(a) The employer or business entity provides facilities for the temporary
storage of unloaded firearms.
(b) The employer or business entity provides an alternative parking area
reasonably close to the main parking area in which employees and other
persons may transport or store firearms in locked, privately-owned motor
vehicles.

(Bold and underlined highlight is mine.)

In your case, although your employer has a limited access, secure lot, they MUST meet one of the requirements in (a) or (b) to prohibit you from storing in your car in the secure lot. However, this still means you can bring your gun.

I doubt that many will choose (a) because they'll be afraid of having weapons outside of your car, even though the law gives them a blanket immunity from liability arising from an occurence that happens because of your gun being transported or stored on their property. BTW, I'm not certain if this blanket liability also includes their liability to you if they lose your gun while in their storage area. I tend to think it does not, but I'd hate to be the test case.

Few businesses will be able to afford (b), but may find a way to carve out a small portion of their regular lot. My concern with this part is that an employer may act in bad faith in this instance and say that once the tiny little alternate lot fills up, "Oh well, you're out of luck and can't park on our property with your gun."

 

[Dredd]

I just got a memo at work today. The law goes into affect 08/15/08.