Guns in cars gets protection

The Senate approved Tuesday a bill requiring employers in the state to make accommodations for employees who want to carry a gun to and from work and leave it in the car while they are there.

SB78, sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, would require any company that prohibits its employees from leaving a weapon in a car parked in the company parking lot to do one of two things: Provide an alternative parking lot where it would be allowed or provide lockers for storage of the weapon at a checkpoint prior to entering the lot.

It only passed, however, after being amended by Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, to exclude the five chemical refineries in his district.

Madsen opposed the amendment, but it won approval 18-10 after Lilljenquist argued the chemical facilities should be exempt because they are homeland security sites. Under federal law, he said, guns can be prohibited from being close to the refineries.

"A firearm could, if shot into one of these facilities, release poisonous gases into the atmosphere," Lilljenquist said he was told by officials from the refineries. "I live really close."

Madsen argued against the amendment, saying under the "worst case scenario, firearms are still kept outside the facility where they couldn't do any harm." After the amendment passed, he said his amended bill still does a lot of good even though it now gives "special treatment to one type of employer." The bill passed 25-4.

The proposed bill stems from a case several years ago in which a court ruled that AOL could legally prohibit its employees from leaving their guns in the car while they were at work.

Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, was one of the senators voting against the proposal, which during Monday debate he called a "fundamental infringement on the right of employers to control their own parking lots."

Romero pointed out that, if someone doesn't like his or her employer's prohibition on firearms in the company parking lot, they can talk with management about changing the rule, park on a public street or choose not to work at that company.

"They can and should quit" if they don't agree with policy, Romero said.

There are exemptions in the bill for schools, government entities, religious institutions and single-family detached residences. Any company falling under the jurisdiction of a federal law specifically forbidding firearms in the parking lot would also be exempt, such as a refinery.

"(The bill) doesn't require them to have a policy in place that compromises their security," Madsen said.

There would also be an exemption allowed if providing an additional lot or a storage facility would cause an "undue burden" on the company.

E-MAIL: dservatius@desnews.com