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by KBCraig
Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:20 am
Forum: General Gun, Shooting & Equipment Discussion
Topic: Channel 11 (CBS) local news tonight...
Replies: 18
Views: 3460

I caught a few seconds of it on TXCN at work, but didn't have time to watch it all. I have satellite instead of cable at home, so I can't watch it here.

Here's the article, though (free registration required):

Should you be able to take your gun to work?

Should you be able to take your gun to work?

09:59 PM CST on Monday, March 27, 2006

By Vicente Arenas / 11 News

There's a battle looming over your right to take a gun to work. The controversy centers on whether you should be able to leave a firearm in your car.

If Granger Durdin could take her gun everywhere, she said she would.

"With the crime rates the way they are and with being a young female, I sometimes feel a little bit more vulnerable and with a gun I have the protection that I need to be safe," said Durdin.

The 29-year-old manager is not alone.

Should you be able to take your gun to work?

"It's very important. You don't know when someone is going to come after you," said gun owner Brenda Lorisch.

In Texas, businesses have the right to keep concealed weapons out of buildings. Now there's a move to allow companies to prohibit them from parking lots, too and that has some concealed carriers upset.

"I believe that's an infringement on civil liberties," said gun owner Pat Warren.

There are no real statistics that will tell you how many people take their guns to work and leave them in their cars. But when it comes to firearms, people in the gun industry will tell you that most people who have licenses to carry them won't leave home without them.

"It takes away our right to protect ourselves going to and from work," said Cheryl Lamar, Hot Wells Firing Range.

Houston-based ConocoPhillips is challenging a law in Oklahoma that allows workers to leave guns in their cars parked on company property.

The company said it is simply trying to provide a "safe and secure working environment for its employees by keeping guns out of their worksites, specifically refineries, natural gas plants and distribution terminals."

11 News found a sign outside an area plant prohibiting weapons, but saw no such signs in the company's parking lot. Still it's clear guns aren't welcome there.

When asked if she thought that this could lead to workplace violence, "Yes, I've heard that. I don't agree," said Sue King, NRA board member.

King grew up around guns. She said ConocoPhillips' efforts are a waste of time.

"If you think back to the incidents of workplace violence that we occasionally, rarely have in this country and keeping the Oklahoma legislation in mind, you'll realize that those people who commit workplace violence are either outright criminals, they're mentally unbalanced or they are true psychopaths," King said.

"I feel that it's a problem," said Tomasita Garza, Texans for Gun Safety.

This group disagrees with King, saying there are other problems with leaving a gun in a car.

"The reason being no vehicle is safe. No matter what kind of deterrents you use to keep your car from being stolen, it can still be stolen," said Garza.

ConocoPhillips is one of several companies asking an Oklahoma judge to clear the way for employers to prevent workers from keeping pistols in the parking lot.

The company says it, "supports the second amendment and the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns".

It's that amendment that granger Durdin says it gives her a little more confidence and the right to protect herself wherever she may be.

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