Florida and the TAKE-A-GUN TO WORK day

I opened the newspaper this morning and there it was on the front page of THE FLORIDA TIMES UNION... "NRA PUSHES GUNS-AT-WORK BILL IN FLORIDA.

Last week I learned that the "Shoot First" law went into effect on Oct. 1st 2005. I thought that was about as outrageous as it could get but THANKS TO THE NRA... NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The NRA wasn't satisfied with the passing of the lawless LAW of giving regular Joe Blow a "shoot first, ask questions later" decision, when confronted with a perceived threat. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! they had to push this LAWLESS LAW even further and allow Florida employees to bring guns (WMM'S - WEAPONS OF MASS MURDERS) with them into their place of employment, a world of extreme competition and jealousy, giving new meaning to the words DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE!.

I thought government was suppose to make our world safer. I had the naive idea that the public's well-being was suppose to come before the ideologies of Special Interest Groups like the NRA.

I always suspected that the Republican Party wanted to return us to a yesteryear of what they judge to be a more moral time (like the 40's and 50's days of McCarthyism). But never did I fathom that they wanted to return our roads, neighborhoods and now our places of employment
to the antediluvian days OF THE WILD WILD WEST!

Wild West n. The
western United States during the period of its settlement, especially
with reference to its lawlessness.

I wonder what's next MOB RULE AND PUBLIC LYNCHINGS? ThinkingBlue

The below article will give you information on what THE NRA AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY are doing to our beautiful Florida.

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Guns-at-work push sparks heated debate
Jason Garcia Tallahassee Bureau Posted October 2, 2005
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida businesses could soon face criminal charges if
they try to stop employees from bringing guns to work in their cars,
thrusting the state into a growing national debate pitting individual
freedom against job safety.

Backed by the National Rifle Association, two state lawmakers have
filed bills that would allow workers to have guns at work, as long as the
weapons remain locked in their vehicles.

The legislation is modeled after an Oklahoma law that drew national
attention when a number of major companies, including energy giant
ConocoPhillips and oil-services conglomerate Halliburton, sued to have it
overturned.

A Florida version could have similarly sweeping effects, particularly in
Central Florida, where the region's largest employer -- Walt Disney World,
with more than 57,000 workers -- does not allow its employees to bring
guns onto park property. Universal Orlando, which employs 13,000 people,
has a similar policy.

About 353,000 people in Florida, meanwhile, have concealed-weapons
permits, according to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
That figure does not include people who don't need to obtain the licenses,
such as police and military personnel.

Despite the battle in Oklahoma, supporters are lining up in Tallahassee.
The House bill has already attracted 10 co-sponsors.

Backers say they are confident they will get the law passed during next
year's legislative session, which begins in March. The NRA is among the
most powerful groups in Florida politics, wielding an active grass-roots
membership and having contributed $330,000 to the Republican Party since
1996, state records show.

In the past two years, the group has won approval for measures that
protect gun ranges from being forced by governments to clean up lead
pollution from bullets, prevent police from creating gun databases and
allow people to shoot attackers without first trying to retreat.

Marion Hammer, an NRA lobbyist, said the group will make the parking-lot
bills (HB 129 and SB 206) a priority in 2006.

"For a business to tell you that in order to come onto their property, you
have to give up your constitutional right is wrong," Hammer said.

Born in Oklahoma

Debate about guns in workplace parking lots erupted in 2002, when 12
workers at an Oklahoma paper mill lost their jobs after managers found
guns in their vehicles parked on site, a violation of company policy.

The state's Legislature responded by passing a law giving employees the
right to keep guns locked in their cars at work. Several companies filed
suit in a case still winding its way through federal court.

The issue gained national attention in August, when the NRA, which says it
has 4.3 million members, launched a boycott of ConocoPhillips gas
stations. The group also has erected billboards that read "ConocoPhillips
is No Friend of the Second Amendment."

State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said he decided to file a Florida bill
after learning of the issue through media accounts, NRA publications and
conversations with Hammer.

"I thought it was a good time for Florida to go ahead and take a
position," Baxley said. "What we're trying to do is avert what we see as
some backdoor gun control."

Under the bills, companies that try to stop workers from bringing in their
guns would be committing a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five
years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

Gun rights invoked

Supporters of such laws say they prevent companies from forcing workers to
give up their constitutional right to carry firearms. It's important for
people to have their gun close at hand, they say, citing examples where
employees must walk through dark parking lots after work.

"An employer needs to recognize the right of its employees to lawfully
defend themselves," said Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who is running for
attorney general and has signed on as a co-sponsor to Baxley's bill.

A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush said the Governor's Office hasn't reviewed
the proposal yet.

In an effort to blunt opposition from businesses, Baxley and Senate
sponsor Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, included provisions that would shield
companies from lawsuits should an employee commit a crime with the gun
kept in a car on company property.

"I would think that business folks would embrace this readily because it
gives them immunity from liability," Hammer said. "They should be happy as
clams."

An issue of safety

But some companies say banning guns from their property isn't an issue of
gun control or of liability; it's an issue of safety. They point to
reports such as one from the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued earlier
this year that showed shootings accounted for three-quarters of the 551
workplace homicides in the United States last year.

"If they have to get in the car and drive home to get a gun, chances are
they are going to cool down a little bit," said Frank Mendizabal, a
spokesman for Weyerhaeuser, which owns the Oklahoma mill that fired
employees found with guns in their cars.

That the law could protect companies from lawsuits is irrelevant because
immunity "doesn't prevent someone from being shot," he said.

Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,
called the proposal a "ridiculous" attempt to ignore property rights in
favor of gun rights.
"Companies in America should maintain the right to be able to say, 'No
guns in the workplace,' " he said.

Businesses wary

The Florida bills will likely face similar opposition from businesses.

"We would be opposed to any effort that would prevent us from determining
who can or cannot bring weapons onto our property," Universal spokesman
Tom Schroder said.

Bill Herrle, a vice president for the Florida Retail Federation, said the
group questions whether the proposal would conflict with existing
employment law and property rights.

"We are going to have some concerns with this," Herrle said, though he
said the Retail Federation has yet to discuss the issue with lawmakers.

Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said the company has not examined the
legislation. But she defended Disney's no-guns policy as "in line with our
top priority, which is the safety of our cast members and guests."

Despite all its successes in recent years, Hamm predicted that the NRA has
picked a fight it is unlikely to win. As strong a force as it is in
Tallahassee, he said, big business is even stronger.

"They've decided to take on the only lobby in America that is arguably
more powerful than them, which is the unified business lobby," Hamm said.

Jason Garcia can be reached at jrgarcia@orlandosentinel.com or
850-222-5564.

Also Read: Editorial: Guns at work/A recipe for danger, not defense

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JOHNNY CASH LYRICS

Click here to hear the song
"Don't Take Your Guns To Town"

Jerry Douglas with Steve Earle
From Jerry's Restless On The
Farm CD
song written Johnny Cash

A young cowboy named Billy
Joe grew restless on the farm

A boy filled with wonderlust who really meant no harm
He changed his clothes and shined his boots
And combed his dark hair down
And his mother cried as he walked out

[Chorus]

Don't take your guns to town son
Leave your guns at home Bill
Don't take your guns to town

He laughed and kissed his mom
And said your Billy Joe's a man
I can shoot as quick and straight as anybody can
But I wouldn't shoot without a cause
I'd gun nobody down
But she cried again as he rode away

[Chorus]

He sang a song as on he rode
His guns hung at his hips
He rode into a cattle town
A smile upon his lips
He stopped and walked into a bar
And laid his money down
But his mother's words echoed again

[Chorus]

He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand
And tried to tell himself he had become a man
A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down
And he heard again his mothers words

[Chorus]

Filled with rage then
Billy Joe reached for his gun to draw
But the stranger drew his gun and fired
Before he even saw
As Billy Joe fell to the floor
The crowd all gathered 'round
And wondered at his final words

[Chorus]

CAROLYNCONNETION - I've got a mind and I'm going to use
it! ThinkingBlue blogspot

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