The House version of the employer parking lot bill (HB1301) is up for a public hearing today (3/23/09) in the House Public Safety Committee. This committee has nine members and Representatives Caraway (C), Rodriquez (D) and Burnam (F) are guaranteed "no" votes. Vice-Chairman Frost (A+) is a co-author on HB1301 as is Rep. Joe Driver (A+), so they obviously will support the bill. Rep. Phil King (A+) should be a "yes" vote and I suspect Chairman Merritt (A) will support us.
This means Representatives Hubert Vo (A-) and freshman Tryon Lewis (C+) could well be swing votes. Please contact these members of the committee and very politely ask them to support HB1301. You might remind them that HB1301 has 37 joint authors and co-authors. Get their fax numbers and follow up your call with a fax. (I don't have fax numbers.) Here are the "talking points" on HB1301"
- SB 730/HB1301 do not prevent an employer from keeping guns out of the workplace; it only applies to locked cars in the parking lot;
SB 730/HB1301 provide employers immunity from civil liability for any injury or damage that may result from storage of firearms in locked vehicles, unless the employer is grossly negligent.
SB 730/HB1301 allow employers to prohibit firearms in a parking area, if the parking lot is not accessible to the general public and the employer provides alternative parking for employees. Or the employer can opt to provide a place to lock up an unloaded firearm. This provision is especially useful to the petrochemical industry and any other business needing to protect sensitive areas.
SB 730/HB1301 would not apply to company-owned vehicles, nor would it allow storage of firearms in vehicles parked on property where the possession of firearms is prohibited under state or federal law.
A public hearing on this bill was held on March 9th, but Chairman Merritt (A) has not brought this bill up for a vote. Other bills have been brought up for a vote. Please contact his office and politely ask him to bring this bill up for a vote. It has 30 joint and co-authors and 300,000+ CHLs deserve to have a vote on this bill.
Please respond to this call to action folks; don't just assume others will do so. Our strength is in numbers and we need a response. DO NOT REFERENCE TSRA OR NRA!
Thanks,
Chas.