Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
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State Scorecard Guns in the Workplace
Gun Violence in the Workplace is a Serious National Problem
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"The effects of workplace violence on businesses and their employees are far-reaching and include physical and psychological harm; losses to property and productivity; increased security, workers’ compensation, and litigation costs; and decreased employee morale.

Many businesses ban firearms from their properties altogether. In response to the increasing number of businesses that ban firearms from their premises, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is pushing state legislatures to pass laws that prohibit property owners from banning firearms from their parking lots."

Since 2006, the NRA has grown increasingly desperate in its attempt to pass "take-your-guns-to-work" laws that seek to turn companies into criminals if they bar guns on their private property. Its efforts have met stiff opposition from the business community and Brady activists. The overall result has been a stinging rebuke to the NRA.

The NRA does not give up easily, however. The NRA is pushing a new round of legislative bills. Here are just some of the reason why we should keep fighting the gun lobby's extreme agenda:

Forced Entry: The National Rifle Association's Campaign To Force Businesses To Accept Guns At Work. Click here to download report.
Overview

POSITION: The Brady Campaign opposes laws that would allow guns in the workplace.

PROBLEM: Introducing dangerous weapons into the workplace defies common sense. Sixty percent of major employers said in a 2005 survey that disgruntled employees had threatened to assault or kill senior managers in the last year. Seventy-seven percent of workplace homicides are committed with firearms.

Over several years, the gun lobby has introduced dangerous guns in the workplace legislation in states across the country. Working closely with the business community and activists, the Brady Campaign has been successful in defeating these harmful bills.

THREAT: Introducing guns into the workplace will endanger workers. An American Journal of Public Health study in May 2005 found that workplaces where guns were permitted were 5 to 7 times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide compared to workplaces where guns are prohibited. In addition, murder is the leading cause of injury-related death for women in the workplace.

URGENCY: The gun lobby continues to push this dangerous legislation, despite having had the original legislation declared unconstitutional by a federal court in Oklahoma.
 
SOLUTION: It will take continued vigilance to defeat the gun lobby’s push to allow guns in the workplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

POSITION: The Brady Campaign opposes laws that would allow guns in the workplace.

Q.� Is it dangerous to have guns in the workplace?

A. Yes. Eighty percent of workplace homicides are committed with firearms (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008). An American Journal of Public Health study in May 2005 found that workplaces where guns were permitted were 5 to 7 times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide compared to workplaces where guns are prohibited (Loomis, p. 830). Sixty percent of major employers said in a 2005 survey that disgruntled employees had threatened to assault or kill senior managers in the last year (Kinney, 1993). In addition, murder is the leading cause of injury-related death for women in the workplace (Hoskins, 2005).

Q.� Who is pushing guns in the workplace legislation?

A. The gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), is introducing legislation in states across the country to force businesses to allow guns in the workplace. The gun lobby’s wants to force guns into every nook and cranny of American society.

Q. In which state did the NRA first push for guns in the workplace legislation and what did the law impose on businesses?

A.Oklahoma. The draconian Oklahoma law made it a crime for anyone – “person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity” – to bar any person, except a convicted felon, from bringing a gun onto any property in Oklahoma that is “set aside for any motor vehicle.” In addition to making violators subject to criminal penalties, the NRA-backed statute provided individuals with a right of action to sue persons, property owners, tenants, employers or business to force them to accept guns into any place set aside for motor vehicles and collect court costs and attorneys fees if they prevail.

Q.� Does the gun lobby continue to push this extreme?

A. Yes.Though in most cases they have scaled back the scope of the legislation. In 2009, three states – Idaho, Montana, and Utah – passed bills to force private property owners to allow their employees to keep guns in their cars while parked at the company lot.  Similar legislation was defeated in eight other states.

Q. Does the business community oppose guns in the workplace legislation?

A. Yes.  The right to exclude someone from your property is fundamental as it is “the traditional test of ownership.” The Florida Chamber of Commerce led the charge to defeat guns in the workplace legislation in their state. Other states’ Chambers have also opposed the legislation along with national groups like The Society for Human Resource Management and the HR Policy Association.

Q. Who else opposes guns in the workplace legislation?

A.Security professionals, organizations that promote workplace safety, the American Bar Association, gun violence prevention organization and even some NRA members oppose guns in the workplace bills. One former lifetime-member of the NRA posted a letter renouncing his membership over the organization’s efforts to pass the legislation in Georgia. In the letter he called the bill “a blatant assault on private property rights.”

Sources

Studies and Reports