Posted on 11/26/2004 10:56:51 PM PST by FairOpinion
VALLIANT, Okla. -- In late summer of 2002, Steve Bastible put three bullets into a dying cow at his ranch, threw the emptied rifle behind the seat of his pickup and forgot about it.
A few weeks later, the rifle cost him his job of 23 years.
That Oct. 1, in a surprise search, Weyerhaeuser Co. sent gun-sniffing dogs into the parking lot of its paper mill here. Mr. Bastible and 11 other workers were fired after guns were found in their vehicles. The timber company said the weapons violated a new company policy that extended a longtime workplace gun ban to the parking area. The fired workers said they knew nothing of the new rule.
The firings outraged many in this wooded community in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. In rural Oklahoma, carrying a firearm in one's car is commonplace. "In Oklahoma, gun control is when you hit what you shoot at," says Jerry Ellis, a member of the state legislature.
Now, the dispute is reverberating beyond the borders of tiny Valliant, located in the southeast corner of the state. In response, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a law giving Oklahomans the right to keep guns locked in their cars in parking lots. But just days before the law was to go into effect this month, several prominent companies with Oklahoma operations, including Whirlpool Corp. and ConocoPhillips sued to stop it. A federal judge put the law on hold pending a hearing.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
If someone is crazed enough to kill fellow employees a stupid rule isn't going to change it.
I think companies need to back of this God complex they have.
My friend, you forgot the banglist. It's taken care of.
What happens if a company is having Union trouble and fears guns may be used to intimidate, should they have to allow guns in the parking lot?
Thanks. I wasn't sure whether just putting "bang" is enough -- for next time I know that "banglist" is the correct keyword.
If it is private property, the owners may apply this kind of restriction because it is their property...
But note the way they handled it -- fired a guy who worked for them for 23 years, when he wasn't even aware (presumably the company didn't even send out a notice about the new policy) of this new policy.
Personally, I think they're asshats.
The truth is that we don't need weapons in the workplace...and we all know this. There are too many nuts out there who would go off the deep end if they were given the pink slip at 3pm...and walk out to the car to get their gun to fix a little problem at the office. Weyerhaeuser may have been within their rights to terminate the guy involved here...I would have preferred a 1-month suspension from the workplace...to drive home the point. They didn't need to fire a good worker. The sad part about this story is that if the worker had parked his car outside of company property...just out on a Oklahoma street...then everything would be ok...and none of this would have come up. Private property....even company property....is left up to the rules established by the company. If they demand that you can't drive your RV into the company lot, then its their right to do so.
Thank you Sam Bernstein and John Edwards.
In Oklahoma, as long as everyone is allowed to keep their gun in their car, union thugs won't last long trying to intimidate by any means.
So9
Weyerhauser does not have sovereign immunity. If they can temporarily find a means to legally remove your right to self defense, then you can sue them for injury because they failed to protect you. And because they are not a public entity, they do not have the protection of statutory liability. It's just a matter of persistence in the courts. Sue the gun grabbers wherever they show up. One big win that hurts their ocket book, then they will give up. Just think. They won't let you park your car on their property with your weapon locked up. You get mugged on the way to or from work. It's their fault.
more PC corporate logic.
Sure it's all the fault of the guns, they jump up and shoot people.
"The truth is that we don't need weapons in the workplace...and we all know this"
Just the opposite. I would intentionally arm everyone at the factory! Who then would try to pull anything?
I'd much rather KNOW that anyone could have a gun on them, than to falsely believe that no one has a gun, only to find out I'm dead wrong.
After some reflecting I've come to the conclusion that there ARE limits to private property, provided the company is publicly traded and employs a large number of employees.
Banning guns in the parking lot is akin to banning political pamphlets IN the car.
Companies do not have what amounts to a de facto right to limit your consitutional rights in every way, shape and form simply because you work there.
I've long disregarded such policies as companies could not search my person and normally had no reason to look through lockers. More importantly, I did not have a car in which I could "store" such an item and unless they provide security when biking or walking home, they do NOT have the right to deprive me of my right of self-defense. Not without some liability if indeed I am hurt or wounded on the job by someone who disregarded the rule OR on the way home if I am unable to be armed.
I agree. Same principle in airplanes. Let a hijacker try anything with 100 other armed passengers.
Yours is an absurd post.
The precise reason why nuts target offices, schools and the like instead of police stations, large public places with heavy numbers of cops, military bases and the like is BECAUSE they know or have a belief that people will not be armed.
Weapons are needed in these places as it is WEAPONS which have been used to STOP such attacks. These attacks do NOT stop when no one is armed. INdeed, the victims are sitting ducks and merely wait to be killed. In areas where carry is more frequent, you do not see such attacks. Unfortunately, even in firearm-friendly states, most workplaces have similar bans and thus subject their employees to a state of defenselessness.
Here's a story to reinforce my argument: I was in a gun shop once and asked to see one of the pistols. Being always aware of the safety rules, I slightly turned away so that I might aim in a safe corner of the store. The owner immediately commanded me to turn around. The reason being that I could load an empty weapon with bullets and use it to rob or murder them.
EVeryone in the store was openly carrying. I would have been easy pickins for them had I tried to do violence to them. Not so at most workplaces where the feminization of hte populace is in full force.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.