Guns in the Workplace

Nov. 6, 2007

ASIS came out in support of a federal court decisions in Oklahoma which deemed that employers do have the right to ban firearms from being kept in employee-owned vehicles that are parked on the company's parking lots.

The case has been an interesting one in the area of workplace violence prevention, because it deals with issues of an employer's right to manage their property as they see fit vs. an employee's right to store personal property within their personal vehicle. The interesting thing about this is that it divides security directors fairly evenly. I raise this same debate among some ASIS members from the Atlanta chapter a couple years ago when this issue first appeared, and they were well-split between the rights of private citizens and the need to protect the workplace. Most, in fact, were not in favor of banning guns from being kept in the employees' private cars.

In the end, I'm very mixed on this: I agree with ASIS and the federal court in Oklahoma which puts the importance on a business owner's safety determinations, yet I also recognize that the right to bear arms is vital and part of our legal heritage.  and that the inside of a vehicle has traditionally been considered personal space. Finally, I have to wonder how enforceable this ruling is, since it's well-beyond cost-prohibitive for most businesses to even think about doing vehicle searches at parking lot entrances.