Lock and load, boys and girls:
Most Hoosiers could take a gun to work as long as the weapon is stored out of sight in a locked vehicle, under legislation enacted Thursday to the delight of gun-rights advocates and the alarm of Indiana businesses.
At least 12 other states, including Kentucky, have passed similar legislation.
House Bill 1065, which passed the House 74-20 and the Senate 41-9, now goes to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature.
As I've posted before, I have mixed feelings about this. I don't buy the arguments of businesses about the threat to workplace safety because of the legislation. But I'm not crazy about the state telling property owners what they can or can't permit. This sentence -- later in the story, in a section detailing exceptions granted by the bill -- ought to give everybody pause: "Homeowners can declare their property a gun-free zone if they choose." Wow. I can control what goes on in my own house. If I choose. The fact that the paper would even print a sentence shows there are people who might not be that shocked if it were not the case.
Comments
Leo:
Wow...declare MY house a gun-free zone.
I take that to mean I can "decide" WHO can carry a weapon upon entry to my house, such as MYSELF, or a LEO..or a person I know REAL well, right?
I mean, I dont want to send any potential burglars the "wrong" message...do I?
How's about I don't say a word at all...and l allow anyone permitted entry into my house WONDER *if* I'm carrying?
ANd having a gun in a locked vehicle does mean that breaking INTO those vehicles might net a thief some heat..unless someone else catches them and gets to THEIR vehicle first...
It would make for some interesting "lunchtime chat".
Employers should have the right to not allow guns on their property. What's the next step? Allowing employees to bring their guns into the building where they work? The parking lot is a logical extension of the workplace. Employer's rights trump individuals rights in this case.
Seems to me this is another case of everyone "overthinking" and "over interpreting". Looked at from the simplest of terms, I think NOTHING trumps your God given right to self preservation/protection.
In my opinion a licensed permit holding American should be able to carry a concealed firearm wherever they damn well please. Whether you are at the Opera, at the factory or at the grocery store, when some poor "misunderstood" soul who was teased as a child goes nuts at Kroger, I'd like to have ability to stop him from killing me.
We have waaaay over complicated our "rights" with tens of thousands of extrapolated lawyerly interpretations to protect every single person in every single instance, it's become freaking ridiculous.
The facts are, the people with permits and registered fire arms overwhelmingly aren't the ones that rob, rape and murder. Is it really a mystery as to why whack jobs choose to shoot up "gun free" zones? It's because no one can shoot back, not exactly rocket science, ya know?
There's an article in our local rag this morning making the case that the old dude in Portage retrieving a shotgun from his car is an example of why employees shouldn't be allowed to have a gun in their car at work.
Does anybody out there think a law banning guns in cars at the workplace would have stopped this moron?
Once again the anti-gun crowd has it backwards, we law abiding citizens need to preserve our right to protect ourselves from idiots like this guy.