Author: wizardpc

On March 6th, opponents of TN SB2992 (and SB3002) were given an hour before the Senate Commerce Committee to explain why they should not be prohibited from discriminating against gun owners when making hiring and firing decisions. You can view the testimony here.

And yes, I do mean discriminate. The bill prohibits employers from firing you if they find out you are a gun owner. It is a companion bill to SB3002, which is more commonly known as the parking lot bill, so both bills were addressed in the testimony.

There were several folks that testified, and they all made the same general claims that allowing employees who have carry permits to lock their guns in their cars is a safety hazard.

There were three company security reps (Fedex, Volkswagen, and a Knoxville Hospital*) who made the same statement at one point or another:

“I am personally responsible for the [safety/security] of every [employee/customer/visitor] that comes to this facility.”

I heard this same thing from the Metro Parks Director during the park carry debate. It was bullshit then, and it’s bullshit now.

My suggested follow up when someone uses a statement like that as an argument for disarmament is: “Really? So if I’m murdered in your establishment, what happens to you, personally? If you’re responsible for my safety, what are the consequences for failure?”

I doubt that there are any consequences at all.

When questioned by committee members, none of the witnesses would accept responsibility for the personal safety of employees going to and from work–which is proper. Putting employees in danger while commuting is not.

I have proposed to a sponsor of the House version, tongue mostly in cheek, that a compromise can be reached with a relatively simple amendment:
You want to claim to be responsible for my welfare? Fine. Companies may prohibit people visiting their facilities from carrying firearms, but if any person is a victim of a violent crime from the time they leave their home until the time they return, the person who is “personally responsible” for the safety and security of visitors shall be charged as an accessory and receive the same sentence as the perpetrators.

Now, for some ridiculous statements heard during testimony (from memory, may not be exact):

“Employees have plenty of places where they can drop off their guns on the way to work.” Really? I’ve never heard of such places, except my home.

When asked if employers could ban Bibles from employees’ vehicles: “Well, there are laws saying we can’t do that.” Sen. Faulk eventually came back with something along the lines of “isn’t this just another one of those kind of laws?” Except Fedex. That guy said it was totally ok to ban discussion of religion at Fedex facilities.

There was a guy from MAPCO who testified, but after he announced that I couldn’t stop laughing. At least three MAPCO gas stations get robbed every week in the Nashville area. Sometimes it’s the same gas station, they just rob it three times. I’m sure he knows a lot about keeping his employees safe.

*The anecdotal evidence the hospital administrator gave was one incident where a non-employee who was also a suicidal prohibited person walked right past an armed security guard and killed a doctor, and another where a teacher was fired and went to his car to get a handgun that he had been storing there–a serious felony. It’s unclear how this law would have affected those incidents.