Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

NRA-ILA Fights for Workers` and Customers` Rights

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Does a parking lot have
more rights than you do?

by Chris W. Cox

NRA-ILA Executive Director

Silly question, I know. But your NRA-ILA is fighting against huge corporate conglomerates who argue that the rights of a humble patch of asphalt outside a business trump yours.

They argue that companies can void the rights of law-abiding citizens on company property, even if the property is open to the general public. If you stop at a grocery store, for instance, they argue that the store can prohibit you from leaving a firearm locked in your vehicle while you shop. It doesn’t matter to them whether you lawfully transport a firearm for protection, recreational shooting, or hunting--even if you have a Right-to-Carry permit.

It’s not just guns. Lobbyists for big business in Florida claim that they can ban books, Bibles, or even a copy of the U.S. Constitution, from your vehicle as well. Their argument is simple: Any business can declare the constitutional rights of a person to be null and void, if that person is on company property.

The issue first came to a head at a Weyerhaeuser paper mill in Valliant, Okla. One business lobbyist ruefully recounted the Oklahoma incident to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying that “Dogs were brought in to do a drug shakedown--the dogs had been crosstrained for ATF use, so they would hit on explosives and gunpowder or guns … I think there were seven employees who had guns in their trucks or cars. They were terminated … they went a little too far in the Oklahoma case.”

If the warrantless search of private vehicles by police dogs is a “little too far,” I’d hate to see these companies really put some effort into violating our rights. Companies justify these police-state tactics under the rallying cry of “property rights.” But property doesn’t have rights. People do.

Property owners do have rights, to be sure. So do employers. Property owners can prohibit trespassers, and companies can establish rules for conduct in their workplaces. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce quoted one newspaper as saying, “an employer has the right to ban extreme body piercings and tattoos, or to insist on jackets and ties. An employer can prohibit workers from showing up at work with Girl Scout cookie order forms or raffle tickets.” This feeble comparison overlooks the obvious: There is no constitutional right to dress as you please, or to sell cookies at work.

When companies invite their emp-loyees and customers to park on their property, however, the property rights of those businesses do not magically balloon and blot out the constitutional rights of their employees and customers. Property rights are a matter of law. The right to self-defense is not only guaranteed by the Second Amendment, but is a “natural right” that predates the Constitution.

But Big Business even disputes that simple truth. Consider the following quote, and guess where it came from: “Supporters of the bill who favor placing gun rights above the rights of property owners rely on a questionable understanding of Second Amendment rights for legitimacy. Often the NRA and its supporters will argue that gun ownership is an inalienable right provided for by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That is not consistent with the text of the amendment nor with the courts that have interpreted it.”

No, this statement was not written by a lawyer from a gun ban group. It was circulated to Georgia legislators by the constitutional scholars at the Georgia Traditional Manufacturers Association. That’s right--business lobbyists are arguing that you simply have no Second Amendment rights at all.

So it should be no surprise to learn that the business lobbyists have teamed up with the gun ban groups to defeat common-sense bills that would protect your right to self-defense. To defeat a bill in the Florida legislature, the Florida Retail Federation hired a lobbyist who had previously been the Southeast Regional Director for the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March. You know what they say about birds of a feather.

That’s right--business lobbyists are arguing that you simply have no Second Amendment rights at all.

Opening a business subjects the owner to countless regulations. Businesses are not allowed to discriminate against employees and customers on the grounds of race, color, religion, or disability. But these gun ban policies are blatant discrimination against people who choose to exercise a constitutional right and take responsibility for their own safety. These policies cut to the core of your natural, guaranteed right to self-defense, and they render Right-to-Carry permits meaningless.

The arrogance of the business lobbyists runs thick. “Parking on a company’s property is a privilege, not a ‘right’,” sniffed one business group. I’d like them to tell that to a customer who’s elderly or mobility-impaired.

These ridiculous arguments are even crazier when you consider the fact that every one of the reform bills has included liability protection for business owners, which they don’t have under current law. So even though the bills actually help businesses, the big corporate lobbyists, in their greed for power, opposed them.

The corporate giants have insulted state legislators for even considering reform bills. Mark Wilson of the Florida Chamber of Commerce told the Miami Herald he questioned how “you can be smart enough to be in the legislature and still consider this bill seriously.” And the Georgia Chamber of Commerce took top prize for hysterical alarmism, claiming that a reform bill “fails to protect businesses and job creators and their employees who may be the subject of terrorist attacks.”

I wonder just how many people would agree that forced disarmament is the best protection from terrorist attacks. But the real impact of these policies is not nearly so hypothetical. Workers have lost their jobs to corporate gun ban policies. Other honest people have been victimized by violent criminals on anti-gun corporations’ property. Our files of these incidents are growing every day. Will your job--or your safety--be next?

TRENDING NOW
Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

News  

Monday, July 29, 2024

Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

Since President Joe Biden unceremoniously dropped out, or was forced out, of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris has been effectively coronated as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Press Covers for Kamala Harris’s Clear Record on Gun Confiscation

News  

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Press Covers for Kamala Harris’s Clear Record on Gun Confiscation

The legacy media has mostly given up the pretense of carrying out its once-professed mission – holding power to account. At this point, no reasonable person expects the regime press to cover legitimate news that ...

Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party Platform: Threats to the Second Amendment

News  

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party Platform: Threats to the Second Amendment

With the release of the 2024 Democratic Party Platform, the national Democratic Party has once again confirmed its extreme anti-gun positions.

Massachusetts: Gov. Healey Signs Radical Gun Control Into Law

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Massachusetts: Gov. Healey Signs Radical Gun Control Into Law

On Thursday, July 25th, Governor Maura Healey (D) signed H. 4885, "an act modernizing firearm laws," one of the most extreme gun control bills in the country, into law.

NRA Report on UN Arms Trade Treaty Conference

News  

Friday, August 23, 2024

NRA Report on UN Arms Trade Treaty Conference

The 10th Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty met this week in Geneva, Switzerland.

California: Anti-Gun Bills Pass Legislature, Heading to Governor’s Desk

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

California: Anti-Gun Bills Pass Legislature, Heading to Governor’s Desk

Yesterday, the California legislature passed two anti-gun bills that will now head to Governor Newsom for his signature. NRA Members and Second Amendment supporters are encouraged to contact Governor Newsom today and urge him to veto ...

En Banc Fourth Circuit Upholds Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Challenge.

Friday, August 23, 2024

En Banc Fourth Circuit Upholds Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Challenge.

Today, the en banc Fourth Circuit upheld Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License (HQL) requirement in Maryland Shall Issue v. Moore, an NRA-supported case.

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

Monday, April 1, 2024

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

NRA Members Among the Largest Class Protected from Draconian Rule

Kamala Harris Desperately Running from Her Own Anti-Second Amendment Record

News  

Monday, August 5, 2024

Kamala Harris Desperately Running from Her Own Anti-Second Amendment Record

Kamala Harris, the party-installed alternative to Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, is now squarely in the national spotlight.

NRA Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Challenge to ATF’s “Frame or Receiver” Rule

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

NRA Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Challenge to ATF’s “Frame or Receiver” Rule

On August 20, NRA filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a challenge to the ATF’s Final Rule that redefines the Gun Control Act of 1968’s definition of “firearm” to include precursors of ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.