Indiana: New law goes into effect July 1 – Guns at work

By Niki Kelly, The Journal Gazette

The most controversial bill becoming law this week is one allowing workers to bring guns to work if they are left in locked vehicles.

Many businesses previously had bans on firearms in their parking lots and buildings, based on the rights of a business to secure its private property.

But Republicans and Democrats sided with the Second Amendment rights of Hoosiers to carry weapons, saying they should be allowed to have the guns for self-defense.

“People will have the right to carry their legally owned firearms secured in their vehicles to their place of work,” said Rep. Bob Bischoff, D-Lawrenceburg. “The weapon will have to be stored in the locked vehicle’s trunk or glove compartment or kept out of plain sight.

It cannot be carried into the workplace, unless expressly allowed by the employer.”

The provision in House Bill 1065 could still be challenged in court, though.

Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said a working group of chamber businesses is considering possible litigation.

He said there are two likely grounds for suing. First is that the law favors a person’s Second Amendment gun rights over the Fourth Amendment property rights of a business.

“We have a clash of rights here clearly. That’s been the rub,” Brinegar said. “Ultimately, the Indiana or U.S. Supreme Court will have to determine the question.”

A second avenue for litigation is equal protection. That’s because lawmakers included a host of exemptions in the bill for certain properties but not others. The exemptions include schools, utilities, domestic violence shelters and child care centers.