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Below is the release from the NRA. Although this has happened
we still do not know when it will officially take hold. I would
suggest that you not change the current practice of your current
employer and we will notify you once we have a clearer
direction. However we are very happy at this ruling.
2/18/2009
Major Victory for American Workers Right to Self-Defense
Fairfax, Va. – Today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in support of
allowing employees to store legally owned firearms in locked,
private motor vehicles while parked in employer parking lots.
This decision upholds NRA-backed legislation passed in 2004.
“This is a victory for the millions of American workers who have
been denied the right to protect themselves while commuting
between their homes and their workplace,” said NRA Executive
Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “This effort was aimed at
skirting the will of the American people, and the intent of
legislatures across this country while eviscerating
Right-to-Carry laws. This ruling is a slap at the corporate
elitists who have no regard for the constitutional rights of law
abiding American workers.”
In March 2004, the Oklahoma legislature passed an amendment
holding employers criminally liable for prohibiting employees
from storing firearms in locked vehicles on company property. A
number of corporations subsequently filed suit in opposition to
the new laws, alleging they were: unconstitutionally vague; an
unconstitutional taking of private property; and preempted by
various federal statutes. The lower court ruled in favor of the
injunction.
“This issue was contrived by the gun control lobby who goaded
corporations into doing their dirty work for them,” said Chris
W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “However, this ruling is a
vindication for every hardworking and lawful man and woman whose
basic right to self-defense was taken away on a whim by
corporate lawyers. NRA is prepared to defend this right and to
ensure the safety of every American worker.”
In October 2008, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and Attorney General
Drew Edmondson appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
the lower court decision to strike down the NRA-backed worker
protection laws. Today’s proceedings handed down by Circuit
Judges Paul J. Kelly, Bobby R. Baldock, and Michael W. McConnell
reversed the lower court’s grant of a permanent injunction.
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