July 27, 2008
Take Your Gun To Work? Two States Say Yes
New Laws In Florida And Georgia Allow People To Take Their Weapons To Work With Them
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Play CBS Video Video Taking Your Gun To Work? Florida and Georgia have passed new laws that allow guns at the workplace, as long as the weapons are left in the car. Many property owners say that's "unconstitutional." Mark Strassmann reports.
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Ann Stone is a Georgia mother who carries her .357 Magnum everywhere. (CBS)
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Photos Shooting Sprees Images from some of the more notable cases in recent years.
Ann Stone is no Annie Oakley, just a Georgia mother, edgy about safety. So wherever she goes, she wants to take her .357 magnum.
"If there's a man that's going to attack me, there's nothing I can do personally, but if I have a gun, of course I can," Stone said.
Just this month, Georgia and Florida expanded state gun laws. People can now bring guns to work, so long as they leave them in their parked cars, joining gun owners in six other states with similar laws.
"They have the right to defend themselves and their families." said State Representative Tim Beardon, who wrote Georgia's new gun law.
Beardon, a former cop, says criminals benefited from restrictions on citizens carrying weapons,
"And it's about time that we started standing up for the innocent, law-abiding citizens instead of making excuses for the criminals all the time," Beardon said.
So, what's the worry? Guns within easy reach will lead to workplace shootings, some critics say. Just last month, a Kentucky plastics factory worker got angry, and got his gun in his car. He killed his supervisor, four co-workers, and then himself.
That's Larry Levine's nightmare.
"It's that ready access to a firearm that frightens us," Levine said.
Levine is an executive with Brandsmart, an appliance chain in Georgia and Florida. Even this NRA member wants guns kept away from his stores.
"Our company has the right to make the rules," Levine said. "Same as in your house. You may tell people that come to visit you they are not allowed to bring a firearm in the house."
Georgia's new gun law has more sticking points: whether firearms belong inside restaurants that serve alcohol; public transportation; and even the world's busiest airport in Atlanta.
The issue is whether people can carry guns in the common areas -- from the parking lots right up to security checkpoints -- not beyond, Strassmann reports. But for now, get caught carrrying a gun anywhere inside this airport, and you're in for trouble.
Ben Decosta runs this airport and oversees its security.
"They need to know who the good guys and the bad guys are, and have no mistake about it," Decosta said.
He's fighting in court to keep guns out. Decosta says even an accidental discharge would cause bedlam.
"It doesn't make any sense to bring in dangerous weapons in with people who are civilian and untrained," Decosta said.
But, to Tim Bearden, it makes perfect sense.
"Property's great, but nothing's better than your life," Beardon said.
And to Ann Stone, that's what it's all about. Feeling like she's not a target for trouble.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 159 CommentsPro-Gun forces say that everyone should have a gun so that people can defend themselves against other armed assaulters. That''s not gonna be possible either. Anyone who''s had a bad day is gonna start shooting if he has the opportunity, if he is unstable and cannot resist the urge. It''s hard.
I don''t know much about the application process of acquiring a firearm, I''m a minor, and my family doesn''t have guns, so bear my ignorance. My opinion is that the application for getting a gun lisence should become more strict, especially on the topic of the mental health. Anyone without a very sound mind should not be in possession of a gun. And gun stores should be very adamant in only selling guns to people with licenses.
While it may not stop everything, it''s the only option that I can see.
The only reference to property in the Bill of Rights states that property may not be taken without due process and just compensation. There is nothing about property owners being able to overrule the constitution!!!
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Posted by kazar70 at 10:22 PM : Jul 27, 2008
Well I suggest that you kill yourself, as this will allow the start of a more safe nation.
Posted by Archangel-45 at 12:32 PM : Jul 28, 2008
Gee, Archangel--I guess the half of brain I do have belongs to you and contains the part about reading comprehension. The article says the law will join 6 other states in allowing people to keep weapons in their parked cars. Unless people are going to be accosted by criminals in traffic or after they get back into their cars--according to this article, they are going to be as helpless as they ever were. Like I said, are they going to plead or bargain for the right to get back to their cars and get their guns?
From the article: "Just this month, Georgia and Florida expanded state gun laws. People can now bring guns to work, so long as they leave them in their parked cars, joining gun owners in six other states with similar laws."
Just let me know when you leave your half brain back--I realize my keeping in deprives you of all the sense you might have had. ROTFLMAO
is this in english?
In 1856, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that local law enforcement had no duty to protect individuals but only a general duty to enforce the laws. South vs. Maryland, 59 US{HOW} 396, 15 L. Ed. 433 {1856}. A U. S. Federal Appeals Court declared in 1982: "There is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen." Bowers vs. devote, U. S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit 686 F. 2d 616 {1982}
The Constitution and the Supreme Court throws personal protection directly into the hands and responsibility of the citizen. We are nothing more than sheep awaiting the slaughter.
Jesus believed in the value of Self-Defense & the most recent interpretation of one of the Ten Commandments is, Thou Shall not Murder.
It is our duty from God and Man to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm and from murder. The Bible give us the right to protect ourselves from murder. The Declaration of Independence recognizes our God given right to Self-Defense and the Constitution gives us the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Arms for use in personal and family protection.
Everything in life states that the Leftists are absolutely wrong in their attempt to disarm the population and if they become serious about their task, we need to become equally serious about our task and fight for our God given rights.
Firstly, the law that permits employers to store their weapons in cars while at work applies only to gun owners that are licensed to carry weapons. And then it applies only to places of employment whose parking lots aren''t secured. Even then, there is a list of prohibited places that are exempted from the law. And if I''m not mistaken, the word "licensee" or any other word or phrase meant to introduce the class of people to whom this law specifically applies does not appear a single time throughout the body of the writing.
Secondly, the freedom of license holders to carry in restaurants that pour alcohol, on public transit including in the non-secure areas of the airport, and in state parks that aren''t on land leased from the federal government was enacted into law on July 1st. The time has passed to question if these freedoms are to be allowed by upstanding, peaceable citizens. The people of Georgia and the General Assembly have already spoken. Further, the Governor of Georgia has gone on record to state that he supports people exercising their right to self defense at the airport and that he wouldn''t want his wife to go about Hartsfield-Jackson unarmed. So Anne Stone is not the only Georgia mother who is worried for her safety while out in the public unarmed.
Thirdly, the story written here misleads the reader to believe that Ben DeCosta, General Manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, has initiated legal action to prevent firearms from entering the facility. The reality of the situation is that DeCosta, the Mayor of Atlanta, and the City of Atlanta are all defendants in the federal lawsuit. Federal courts are looking at the new measures because the plaintiff seeks relief from the defendants for illegal property seizure and arrest while traveling to and from Hartsfield armed. Incidentally, the plaintiff in this federal 1983 action is the author of the law enacted on July 1.
Fourthly, airport carry by license holders is perfectly legal in forty other states in the US in the non-secure areas of the building and parking lots. CBS succeeded in mentioning that only six other states allow employees to store their lawfully owned firearms in their cars while at work but conveniently neglected to mention how many other states permit airport carry.
Lastly, there is no force of law in Georgia that stipulates that a person with a firearm license carry concealed. Just thought you folks should know that.
In closing, CBS really did a rough-cut job of reporting the issues and facts surrounding the new law as it relates to Georgia. If their reporters refuse to impart the relevant facts to the readers here so that they may arrive at an informed opinion, I will see to it myself just to set the record straight.
They want to ban me, an honest, law abiding citizen from carrying my gun in my car at work. They don''t ban a criminal from parking there.
I''ve seen plenty of NO FIREARMS ALLOWED signs but when did you last see a NO RAPISTS, NO FELONS, or NO DIRT BAGS Allowed sign?
My point is that the laws are all upside down. If forced to protect myself or family against bodily harm I would expect to be arrested, and force to fight for my life in both state and civil court. I would of course take the action necessary to save my family but a stranger, I may have to decide to walk away.
Hey, I''m on your side. Getting a concealed carry permit is not easy, and it should not be. Once vetted however, there needs to be no restrictions as to when or where I can carry.
The media never includes the facts about a gun used in a crime. Was the actor a licensed gun owner? Guns in the hands of licensed, vetted people are not a danger to anyone other then the dirt bag who chose him or her as a target.
Lets see a total of crimes committed by licensed gun owners vs unlicensed criminals. Lets see the words "licensed" or "unlicensed" included in all the articles and news commentaries. Let the people see who is committing the gun crime.
Yes, Ban crime, not guns.
Finally, somebody who makes a little bit of sense on this comment board!!! Thank you, Rytom64!!!!
Posted by GoDawgs20082 at 01:09 PM : Jul 28, 2008
Spilling blood of the masses is not a contest. No one wins a prize for spilling less or more than the other. The fact is, widescale mayhem, death and destruction can take place whether religion is used as the cover for it or not--and as I said (even for the churches) massive death is always preceded by a massive greed for money and/or power. That is the reason for wars and inquisitions etc--to either gain more land, colonies, money, resources, etc--in the end, it is like trying to determine which is wetter--water or milk--they both are--. People do not suffer a finer death if it is done in the name of religion and people who die due to totalitarianism or dictators or greed don''t get a better death, because religion was not involved. That is a fact. There are no halos here. LOL
Posted by Archangel-45 at 12:32 PM : Jul 28, 2008
Gee, Archangel--I guess the half of brain I do have belongs to you and contains the part about reading comprehension. The article says the law will join 6 other states in allowing people to keep weapons in their parked cars. Unless people are going to be accosted by criminals in traffic or after they get back into their cars--according to this article, they are going to be as helpless as they ever were. Like I said, are they going to plead or bargain for the right to get back to their cars and get their guns?
From the article: "Just this month, Georgia and Florida expanded state gun laws. People can now bring guns to work, so long as they leave them in their parked cars, joining gun owners in six other states with similar laws."
Just let me know when you leave your half brain back--I realize my keeping in deprives you of all the sense you might have had. ROTFLMAO
Posted by alien_view at 12:23 PM : Jul 28, 2008
Provided that person got to their locked car and got that gun out first. Read the article--they are allowed to keep them in their parked cars--now if we can all just get criminals to commit crimes in an orderly fashion and to wait while all the vigilantes go and get their guns from their cars. READ THE ARTICLE.
Posted by alien_view at 12:18 PM : Jul 28, 2008
You do realize that the article states that these laws have gun owners leaving their guns in their cars, right? So who will be prepared? Think criminals will wait until they can have a fair fight?
From the article: "Just this month, Georgia and Florida expanded state gun laws. People can now bring guns to work, so long as they leave them in their parked cars, joining gun owners in six other states with similar laws."
What good is a gun in a locked car? Or did all of you law abiding citizens think you could just carry them wherever you go?
Posted by TAG1737 at 12:39 PM : Jul 28, 2008
Uhmmmmmmmm. Crime is already banned. That is why it is called.........crime. (and you want to carry a gun?) LMAO
Posted by impeach__W at 12:00 PM : Jul 28, 2008
I was in FL just last year--2 weeks in Orlando with my family--great time--no problems whatsoever. Maybe it is not that Orlando is not safe--but where you are in Orlando--we had no problems at our hotel, no problems at Disney World, Universal or all the other sights we went to , We then traveled to Beaches on the Coast and to Clearwater. Now if you said Tampa was not safe--I''d have to agree.
Finally, somebody who makes a little bit of sense on this comment board!!! Thank you, Rytom64!!!!
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