(M8) Schneider-Curry
2.
My opinion is that employees have a legal right to keep guns in their cars that are parked in a company lot. On property rights of employers, I have to wonder how employers plan to regulate non-employees that visit their business. If a customer or client has a gun in their vehicle, is the employer willing to lose that client to enforce their property rights? If they aren’t, then if non-employee guns are not an issue why are employee guns?
The safety concerns of employers are somewhat valid in my opinion. Firstly, the 700 workplace homicides per year is too vague. “Occupational homicides by selected characteristics, 1997—2010,’ reports a total of 8,666 occupational homicides. Only 894 of those homicides were committed by co-workers of former co-workers (unfortunately these are not split). This also does not specify if the worker usually kept a gun in their vehicle or if was a planned event. So yes, it reasonable that employers are concerned but there are other things for them to be more concerned about.
I think it would be good policy for companies to allow employees in their cars simply because the overall feel I got from this chapter was that companies that are accommodating (within reason) to their employees wishes do better in the long run because employees are happier.
3.
I think a “wrecking ball to the Second Amendment’ is an exaggeration, but I do have concerns about people’s right to self-defense. I personally have never been concerned about walking to my car from work, but that is because of when and where I work. I can understand people being concerned who work late or work near a dangerous area. It is not uncommon for people to have errands or plans after work, and it often is likely inconvenient for employees to return home to retrieve a gun if they weren’t allowed to keep one in their car. I don’t really feel confident commenting on whether gun advocates are guilty of politicizing the issue; I don’t follow the news that well. If necessary, yes I think state legislators are right to get involved.
4.
This is a tricky question. My first thought was, as a student would I have been uncomfortable knowing that any of my past teachers had a gun in the school? My answer is no, but I could understand parents and different students having concerns. I do have concerns about students getting a hold of said guns. Even if there were restrictions on how the guns were stored in the school, accidents happen.
“Occupational homicides by selected characteristics, 1997—2010,’ https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/work_hom.pdf.