7 JAN 08: LOCKED STOCKED GUN BARRELS
We're now only one week away from the start of the new Georgia General Assembly session. All lobbyists hereby have seven days to set their speed-dials for Atlanta accordingly.
All sorts of proposals come up in the legislature every year. Rep. Richard Smith brought up one in a recent e-mail, which is bound to be controversial. It involves whether you should be guaranteed the right to keep firearms in your car while at work. So you could work until 4:00 p.m., then drive out of town and hunt for an "early-bird dinner" at 4:30.
Georgia House Bill 143 specifies "no private or public employer" would be allowed to have "any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting an employee from transporting or storing a firearm in a locked motor vehicle" in any "employee parking area." So your car would have to be locked -- but your pistol might not have to be.
HB 143 says nothing about keeping your weapon out of sight, while you're parked on the job. "Concealed carry" rules occasionally spark discussions on blogs, but apparently you could leave your gun in plain view in the back seat of your locked car. Perhaps even set up with a trip wire -- which could be trouble if someone has to call Pop-a-Lock.
Rep. Richard Smith's e-mail notes a companion bill in the Georgia Senate adds language about employer liability. Senate Bill 43 says employers could NOT be held liable for damages, if a worker keeps a firearm in a car on the job. So if someone "goes postal," you couldn't sue the Postal Service.
Well, check that - employers could still be sued if the "employer commits a criminal act involving the use of a firearm." If you ask the boss for a raise and he pulls a gun out of his desk drawer in response, you might still get the raise - only from a civil jury.
(My late father carried a revolver in the car he drove to and from his business. I never knew it until he totaled the car one Saturday afternoon in central Kansas, and my mother reminded him of the gun hidden under the front seat. It's a good thing she brought a big pillow for taking naps....)
There's also an exception in SB 43 if "the employer knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, 'should have known' that the person using such firearm would commit such criminal act on the employer's premises." That would seem to put pressure on bosses to conduct background checks of all their employees. Who added this clause, Google?
Rep. Richard Smith admits in his e-mail, "This will be a very emotional and contentious vote." In fact, an unnamed "large business in Columbus" is already lobbying against these bills. Based on recent news stories, Columbus Regional has other criminal matters to worry about already....
"I am a very strong believer in the second amendment," Richard Smith's e-mail concludes; "however, I am also a very strong believer in property rights." So it's a tug-of-war between your gun and your boss's rules - and your boss is far more likely to win if he grabs your gun.
One question I have about this proposal is why employees would be allowed to carry firearms where they park at work, when students can't keep them inside their cars at any Georgia schools. The students face "zero tolerance" rules on school grounds - which probably has changed how woodcraft is taught in shop classes.
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION wants to know what you think of this. Should employees have a guaranteed right to carry firearms in their cars while on the job? Should employers have the right to set rules about such things? And should be separate rules for knives, among members of the meatcutters' union?
E-MAIL UPDATE: Let's play catch-up from our fifth anniversary weekend, beginning with someone who wants to correct us....
Sorry Richard,
My kids attend SLS and they don't start school until Monday, Jan 7. You may have confused it with Calvary Christian School, which did start back on Thursday Jan 3.
Cheers.
Tim Kelly
Really - St. Luke School was NOT open last week?! You could have fooled me Wednesday afternoon. I went there about 4:00 p.m. and found a group of children heading out the door, crossing lights blinking on 11th Street and several people at the first-floor office window. If no tables were set up for Wednesday Night Supper, what WAS happening there?
Speaking of dining out, here's a follow-up to Thursday's e-mail about the quickly-closed Wildflower Buffet in Phenix City....
For some reason, the west side of the River will not support Restaurants.
I have asked managers from Golden Corral and Ryan's as to when they plan to build over there and both said "there are no plans to do that"
Golden Corral managers mentioned that they are looking to build somewhere in South Columbus, they did mention that the same owners of the Columbus Store are the same owners as the Opelika store.
If the west side of the River opens more BBQ pits, State Officials might have to add motorized wheel chair lanes through out the area..
some have forgot to mention that the new rules for Business license fee's might have something to do with it?
I'm not familiar with the Phenix City business license rules. But there's no guarantee that city will support any more barbecue restaurants. Keep in mind that the new Charbroil restaurant sits where Golden Rule Barbecue used to be -- and as close as that pit was to Golden Acres Baptist Church, it should have been a big success.
Now for other leftovers from the first weekend of January....
+ The Columbus NAACP held its annual banquet at the Trade Center. The guest speaker was veteran civil rights attorney Fred Gray - which is very ironic, since he's argued against gray areas in racial matters for decades.
+ Ground was broken for the new Harris County Middle School. Superintendent Susan Andrews says the school is needed to prepare for base realignment at Fort Benning - not to mention shopping realignment, once "The Grove" project opens.
+ Northland Neighbors reported a "Charles Flowers" recently sold his Columbus home for $265,000. Does this mean the former Muscogee County Schools coach and Athletic Director is in Albany to stay? Could he move farther south to Thomasville, and claim to be part of the Flowers bread fortune?
+ Connecticut pummeled Purdue in women's college basketball 100-50. I watched this game to see how Columbus High alum Ketia Swanier is doing with "U-Connie" - and was disappointed to find even in her senior season, she's still coming off the bench. Swanier could be starting and starring at Georgia. Not to mention saving money on winter coats....
+ Xavier exterminated Auburn in men's play 80-57. The final minutes included an appearance by a Xavier player named Charles Bronson - who hopefully isn't a drama major, or planning to enter mixed martial arts.
+ Instant Message to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose, who lost to Georgia Tech in men's basketball Sunday: I shudder to think of what Don Imus will say, if your women's team is ever successful....
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