http://www.sltrib.com/08092001/business/120727.htm

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Businesses Watch Gun Lawsuit

Businesses Watch Gun Lawsuit
Thursday, August 9, 2001

BY STEVEN OBERBECK
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

   A group of Utah business organizations is lending support
to America Online in its duel with three former employees
fired last year for carrying guns in a parking lot outside the
Internet service provider's Ogden call center.
   Utahns Luke Hansen, Paul Carlson and Jason Melling are
suing AOL in 2nd District Court over their dismissals, arguing
the company's anti-weapons policy violates the state's gun
laws.
   They contend Utahns with concealed weapons permits are
allowed to carry their firearms just about everywhere except
in secure areas such as airports, jails and courthouses.
   Their lawsuit is being watched closely by pro- and
anti-gun activists because it pits some of the most permissive
gun laws in the nation against the rights of private
companies.
   At issue is whether private businesses have the right to
restrict employees -- even those with concealed weapons
permits -- from bringing guns onto company property, including
parking lots.

   Utah business organizations including The Salt Lake Area
Chamber of Commerce, the Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce, the
Utah Restaurant Association and Utahns Against Gun Violence
this week filed a "friend of the court" brief supporting AOL
in the lawsuit. Friend of the court briefs are offered by
groups that are not involved in the litigation but are
interested in issues it raises.
   The essential question is whether the public is harmed if
a Utah employer enforces a rule prohibiting employees from
bringing guns onto property they [the employers] own or lease,
said Salt Lake City attorney Michael O'Brien, who filed the
brief on behalf of the business organizations.
   You "can keep and bear arms in accordance with the
constitutional provision without having to do it when at
work," O'Brien said.
   The business organizations support AOL's argument that
under Utah's at-will employment law, businesses can fire
workers arbitrarily as long as the termination is not contrary
to the public interest, such as in whistle-blower cases.
   On Sept. 14, Hansen met co-workers Melling and Carlson in
the parking lot outside AOL on their way to target practice at
an Eden shooting range. Melling and Carlson carried two rifles
and two pistols from their cars to Hansen's truck. The pistols
and one of the rifles were in cases, and the other rifle had a
receiver lock, Hansen said earlier this year. All the weapons
were unloaded except Hansen's .40-caliber in his fanny pack.

   Hansen and Carlson hold Utah concealed-carry permits, and
Melling was in the process of getting one, so all three were
familiar with state firearms laws, according to Hansen.
   The three men were fired four days later despite what they
contend were positive employment records.
   For well-known Utah gun-rights attorney Mitch Vilos, the
issue is not guns in the workplace. "The issue is whether or
not an employer can prohibit its employees from having
firearms in their cars in a public parking lot," he said.
   AOL's parking lot is open to the public and provides
access to at least four other businesses. As such, it should
be precluded from the company's no-weapons policy, Vilos said.

   [email protected]

(c) Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on
Utah OnLine is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune and
associated news services. No material may be reproduced or
reused without explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.

I pray that AOL looses and has to pay these guys BIG. This is another example of corporate American anti's sticking their nose where it does not belong. For Christ's sake this happened in a PUBLIC parking lot. AOL SUCKS and they know the SUCK.