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Saturday, March 06, 2010

Ind. Law - "Exemptions shoot down gun theory"; shotgun incident shows dangers

The Indianapolis Star today has a strong editorial about HB 1065 (see yesterday's report here), which is on its way to Governor Daniels:

If the Indiana General Assembly really cares about the safety of Hoosiers, what does it have against students, teachers, toddlers, prison guards and people who work in the pharmaceutical business?

For that matter, why are lawmakers picking on the disabled?

Those, of course, are among the exceptions to a bill passed by both chambers Thursday that would permit people to take guns to work as long as they keep them locked in their cars and out of sight.

Safety is supposed to be the goal. The dispensations shoot down that claim.

Employers, who are responsible for safety and liable for shootings on their premises, are outraged by the legislation and are imploring Gov. Mitch Daniels to veto it. He should do just that. So far, he's not saying; but he's no foe of the gun lobby and has authorized the carrying of firearms in state parks.

If the bill becomes law, litigation is likely as the business community pursues its right to govern and secure its property. In a technical sense, that prerogative lost out to the right to personal protection.

As a practical matter, this slapdash appeal to pro-gun sentiment is self-contradictory. For reasons ranging from federal law to political clout to common sense to sympathy for the fearful father of a developmentally disabled teenager, the bill is shot through with exemptions. By the logic of "armed and safer," those entities -- schools, universities, prisons, investor-owned utilities, child-care centers, Eli Lilly and Co. -- have been imperiled.

It is safe to say that imperiled is not how they feel. Nor do operators of hospitals and oil refineries feel safer. They sought exemptions and somehow were turned down.

Opponents cited numerous incidents across the nation in which angry employees and ex-employees have opened fire in workplaces. They noted that guns are often stolen. They go off by accident.

Proponents may argue, mostly hypothetically, that armed workers would thwart the bad guys. But here also is a glaring inconsistency. Earlier in this session, the legislature by landslide votes banned public access to records from which The Indianapolis Star had learned that gun permits are routinely handed out to individuals with a history of violence.

The common denominator: The realities of public safety proved no match for the emotional and political firepower of "gun rights." The governor, taking up his pen in a Statehouse from which weapons are banned, can end an unfair fight.

Here is a Feb. 14, 2010 ILB entry on SB 195, passed earlier this session, that closes public access to records of handgun registrants.

The new "guns to work" law would apply to, among others, public employees, guaranteeing them the right to take their guns to work, so long as the weapons are locked in their cars. The rationale? Perhaps they take a dangerous route to work, or may have a need to run out of the office to retrieve their firearm.

The "value" of that guarantee was illustrated by an incident that happened yesterday in Northwest Indiana. Joyce Russell reports today in the NWI Times:

PORTAGE | A 19-year auditor with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, apparently distraught over a job review, opened fire with a shotgun Friday afternoon on fellow employees at an administrative office at 6224 Central Ave., police said.

No one was injured, and the man, identified as a 60-year-old Portage resident who works as an auditor for the agency, was taken into custody. * * *

The shooting comes one day after the Indiana House and Senate approved legislation allowing Hoosiers to keep guns locked in their cars while at work. The bill now is in the governor's hands.

In opposing the bill, state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, had said he believed the legislation would result to more on-the-job shootings.

"I told them this was going to happen," Smith said after learning of the Portage shooting. "It's not a good law to allow people to bring guns that close to work. If you have a chance to go home, you might cool off."

On Friday, 16 employees were in the office in a strip mall located in the downtown area, police said. The suspect had been called into a manager's office for a job review, became upset, left the building and took a 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun from his vehicle and returned to the building, Portage police Sgt. Keith Hughes said.

Hughes said a manager "had a bad feeling" and ordered employees to lock the door. The suspect fired the first shot at the door, shattering the glass. He entered the building and chased employees out the back doors, firing another shot into the back of the building. He then followed employees as they scattered around the building, returning to the front of the office.

Police arrived, guns drawn. The suspect, who was in the process of reloading his shotgun, said, "I surrender," and he put down the gun, Hughes said.

Christin Nance Lazerus of the Gary Post-Tribune has this report.

Finally, as related in this Dec. 9, 2006 ILB entry, even though the new HB 1065 will mean state employees can have their guns locked in their vehicles in the Statehouse complex garages and parking lots, these employees may not bring their guns into the Statehouse, unless they are legislators or judges.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 6, 2010 11:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Law