Opinion: Let bosses ban guns at work

from SouthbendTribune.com

It is no surprise that the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is taking aim at Senate Bill 25. The legislation would allow workers to keep guns locked in their vehicles on workplace property. There is a similar bill before the Indiana House.

Not only would SB 25 ban bosses from requiring workers to leave their guns at home, but it would make employers liable for civil damages if they tried to prevent workers from bringing guns onto workplace property.

This is an employer rights issue, not a Second Amendment issue. Workers aren’t denied a constitutional right by being told they can’t keep guns at their workplace. But for a property owner — any property owner — to be forced to allow guns on his property against his will certainly would be an infringement on his rights.

That is the most basic reason SB 25 should be ditched for the third year straight. It’s also the reason most cited by business advocates, including the Chamber. But there is another reason to find fault with the bill as well.

Besides having rights, employers have responsibilities. One responsibility is to provide a safe work environment on their property. That includes discouraging violence. It is entirely reasonable for an employer to associate guns with violence and to ban them from workplace property.