« Ind. Gov't. - Competition fierce for Fort Wayne's Lincoln Museum | Main | Ind. Decisions - More on: Judge Hamilton holds SB 258 unconstitutional »

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ind. Law - "Ind. law bars guns at work"; potential impact of Heller

Bryan Corbin of the Evansville Courier & Press reports today in the aftermath of the shootings this week at a plastics plant across the river in Henderson, Kentucky:

INDIANAPOLIS — Unlike their Kentucky counterparts, employers in Indiana generally have the right to forbid workers from bringing firearms onto company property, a legal expert said.

Hoosiers who are not felons and who meet other criteria have the legal right to obtain handgun permits; but the right to carry firearms is not absolute on private property.

"My understanding is an employer can forbid his employees from possessing a firearm on company property even though they are otherwise lawfully licensed to carry," said law professor Henry Karlson of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis.

Similar provisions apply in most states. According to published reports, six states — including Kentucky — have carved out exceptions to such laws.

In essence, the exceptions bar employers from prohibiting employees from keeping guns locked in their vehicles in the company parking lot, as long as the weapons are not brought into the workplace itself.

Indiana law does not have such an exception however, so if an employer wants to enact a gun-free-workplace policy and penalize any workers who violate it, then the firm is free to do so.

Karlson said there has been a "serious nationwide debate" since the April 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting at Virginia Tech whether gun-free-zone policies at workplaces or campuses are effective or counterproductive in deterring potential gun violence and shootings.

"Unless you search every automobile going into and out of a plant, there is no way to prevent a crime (such as the one Wednesday in Henderson)," Karlson said. "Clearly, if a person intends to shoot a group of people, getting fired for having a gun will not be one of his concerns."

Heller. At 10 AM today the SCOTUS is expected to hand down it opinion in the 2nd Amendment case of District of Columbia v. Heller, which may impact current and future gun laws. It is anticipated that Justice Scalia will author the opinion.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 26, 2008 08:20 AM
Posted to Indiana Law