Date: March 13, 2008
To: USF & NRA Member and Friends
From: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President
House Bill 503 by Representative Greg Evers (R-Milton) was heard by the House Environment & Natural Resources Council yesterday and was amended with a substitute bill by the Council - and then passed by a vote of 11 to 6.
The substitute bill is identical to the original bill except that it requires an EMPLOYEE, who keeps a firearm in a private vehicle in the business parking lot while at work, to have a license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm (CCW). The requirement of a CCW license DOES NOT apply to customers or invitees who park in the business parking lot. It only applies to employees.
We did not support this change to the bill. Legislators were trying to accommodate the business lobbyists BUT, as in previous attempts to find middle ground, the lobbyists for big corporations still oppose everything and are only interested in absolute power and control over what lawful products can be kept in private vehicles in parking lots.
The new language clearly discriminates against employees who exercise constitutional and statutory rights. Below is a link to a news article on yesterday’s actions. CONTRARY to what the article says, a CCW is ONLY required for employees and not for customers and invitees who park in business parking lots.
In other words, if the bill passed in the current form, Disney, Publix, McDonalds or any anti-gun business could not prohibit customers or invitees from having firearms locked in their private vehicles in parking lots while they shop or conduct business, but they can prohibit employees from exercising the same right unless the employee has a CCW.
www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article415034.ece
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