OK for guns in cars set for Nov. 1

By Ken Raymond
Staff Writer

A law intended to keep gun owners from being fired from their jobs for having legal guns inside their locked vehicles is set to take effect in November.

Transporting guns
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation gives these guidelines for transporting guns.

People with conceal-carry permits can have hidden, loaded handguns in their vehicles if they have their permits with them.

People without permits can transport unloaded guns. Ammunition and guns must be kept in separate compartments.

Gun owners of both types can haul rifles and shotguns as long as they are unloaded and visible. Loaded rifles and shotguns can be transported, as long as no rounds are chambered and the firearms are locked in a trunk or exterior compartment.

House Bill 2122 -- an addition and amendment to Oklahoma's Self Defense Act -- will alter current law under which companies can establish policies and post signs banning firearms on all company property.

The new measure affects parking areas.

"You can still prohibit people from bringing them (guns) into your company's buildings, if that's what you want to do," said Miles Hall, president of Oklahoma City's H&H Indoor Gun Range and a supporter of the change. "But the employer's domain, if you will, no longer goes as far as the employee's car."

Rep. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, said he wrote the bill after people he knew were fired at a paper company when guns were found in their vehicles during a drug sweep.

"These were people who'd been there for 25, 30 years," Ellis said. "There's no reason they should've fired them for this ... because these people weren't a threat to anyone. These were good people."

Under the new law, he said, those workers would have been protected.

"Private companies cannot come up with policies that counter state law. ... Come Nov. 1, they (workers) can bring their guns back to work and put them in a locked vehicle as long as they're not felons," Ellis said.

Schools and federal property are exempt, Ellis said.

As of yet, of course, the law has not been tested. But even though it falls within an act governing concealed weapons, Ellis and others agreed, the law should have implications for most gun owners.

"It applies to everyone across the board," said attorney Doug Riesen, who studied the bill. "This takes away the right of the employers to control guns on their property -- but not inside their buildings."

Oklahoma City police said they aren't sure what effect, if any, the law will have.

"We're taking a wait-and-see attitude on this change," police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. But we're not convinced it's going to have a significant impact on law enforcement."

Byron "Bo" Boshell, who heads security for Integris Health, said the change could be cause for concern.

But to Hall, the change makes sense.

"People were carrying before this law came along," he said. "This just makes it appropriate for us all to do it correctly."

http://newsok.com/article/1303848/?template=news/main

I wish we had that here.

God bless Oklahoma, now let's get cracking and make it easier to get 6 point beer so I don't have to drive across state lines to get Fat Tire,

Quoted: God bless Oklahoma, now let's get cracking and make it easier to get 6 point beer so I don't have to drive across state lines to get Fat Tire,

Amen!

To both points!  

 IIRC, if you have a Oklahoma CWL, then you can, by law allready, leave your firearm in your vehicle, in parking lots of places that do not allow carry inside the business.

Yup, here we are,

Title 21 s.s.1277.  Unlawfull carry in certain places, section B, reads as follows,

For purposes of paragraph 1,2,3,5 and 6 of subsection A of this section, the prohibited place DOES NOT INCLUDE and SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES the following property;

a.    any property set aside for the use of any motor vehicle, whether attended or unattented by a city, town, county, state or federal governmental authority.

b.   any property set aside for the use of any motor vehicle, whether attended or unattented, by any entity offering any professional sporting event which is open to the public for admission, or by any entity engaged in para-mutuel wagering autherized by law.

c.  any property adjacent to a structure, building, or office space in which concealed weapons are prohibited by the provisions of this section, and

d.  any property designated by a city, town, county, or state governmental authority as a park, recreational area, or fairgrounds, provided nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to authorize any entry by a person in possession of a conceled handgun into a structure, building, or office space which is specifically prohibited by the provisions of subsection A of this section.



So by reading the above section, if I read it correctly, we allready can leave our weapons in our vehicles in a parking lot, IF we are not allowed to carry inside the building.

Hell, I can remember when you couldn't drive through Tulsa without seeing a rifle or shotgun in every gun rack in every pickup truck on the road. Ah, the good old days!

Quoted: Hell, I can remember when you couldn't drive through Tulsa without seeing a rifle or shotgun in every gun rack in every pickup truck on the road. Ah, the good old days!

Aint that the truth........

The problem is that OK is an "At-Will" employment state.  They can fire you at anytime for almost any reason or no reason, so while I like the law, I don't think it will change much.

Quoted: Yup, here we are, Title 21 s.s.1277.  Unlawfull carry in certain places, section B, reads as follows, For purposes of paragraph 1,2,3,5 and 6 of subsection A of this section, the prohibited place DOES NOT INCLUDE and SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES the following property; a.    any property set aside for the use of any motor vehicle, whether attended or unattented by a city, town, county, state or federal governmental authority. b.   any property set aside for the use of any motor vehicle, whether attended or unattented, by any entity offering any professional sporting event which is open to the public for admission, or by any entity engaged in para-mutuel wagering autherized by law. c.  any property adjacent to a structure, building, or office space in which concealed weapons are prohibited by the provisions of this section, and d.  any property designated by a city, town, county, or state governmental authority as a park, recreational area, or fairgrounds, provided nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to authorize any entry by a person in possession of a conceled handgun into a structure, building, or office space which is specifically prohibited by the provisions of subsection A of this section. So by reading the above section, if I read it correctly, we allready can leave our weapons in our vehicles in a parking lot, IF we are not allowed to carry inside the building.

Very true, however I do like that this new admendment makes it clear in no uncertain terms that employers and companies can not use "Private Property" rules to fire someone, although they'll just find another excuss later since it isn't hard to do in Ok

Quoted: The government should not be setting rules for what a private property owner sets for rules on his own property.

You're missing the point, the whole purpose of having a CCL is for protection, and for that protection to be effective it has TO BE HANDY.  and if you can be fired because you can't leave IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL CAR, wft good is a CCL, since 5-6 days of the week you can not carry for the fear of being fired?  This does nothing to negate personal properties rights for their land, just employeers that try to resrict what I carry in MY CAR.  Just think of it as a equal protection act for CCL carriers that restores our ability to be able to carry everyday.  Now it is your right to disagree, and I respect that, but notice there isn't a single Oklahoman that has complained, and I'd bet money you won't and if you do, they're probably orginally from out of state,