Are There Firearms in Your Parking Lot? - Part II
By: Bill Bahr, HR Director
June 23, 2011
The Texas legislature has passed and Governor Perry has signed into law Senate Bill 321 which prohibits employers from enacting and enforcing bans on employees transporting and storing firearms in their locked, private motor vehicles while parked at work. This new law will take effect on September 1, 2011. This includes concealed handgun licensees who carry their firearm during their commute to and from work for personal protection, Texas sportsmen who hunt before or after work and competitive and recreational shooters who stop at the local shooting range before heading home for the day.
In our last blog we advised that, if passed, SB 321 will require both public and private employers to modify their no-weapons policies and handbooks by removing any language that would prohibit or discipline employees for carrying firearms in their personal vehicles and/or keeping firearms locked up in their personal vehicles while parked in a parking lot that is company owned or controlled. SB 321 applies to all lawfully-owned firearms - not just firearms in the possession of Concealed Handgun Licensees. These policy and handbook changes need to be made by September 1, 2011.
Employers making modifications to their policies and handbooks should keep in mind that SB 321 does not authorize an employee to possess firearms on any property where such possession is prohibited by state or federal law, and the provisions of the bill do not apply to the following:
- Vehicles owned or leased by the employer and used by the employee for work purposes;
- School districts, open enrollment charter schools, and private schools as defined in Section 22.081, Education Code;
- Property owned or controlled by a person, other than an employer, that is subject to a valid, unexpired oil, gas, or other mineral lease that contains a provision prohibiting the possession of firearms on the property; or
- Property owned or leased by a chemical manufacturer or oil and gas refiner permitted by TCEQ and on which the primary business conducted is the manufacture, use, storage or transportation of hazardous, combustible, or explosive materials; however, employees at these facilities who are CHLs may store firearms (including rifles or shotguns) in their private motor vehicles in parking areas located outside of secured and restricted areas which contain the physical plant, are not open to the public and which are constantly monitored by security personnel.
Please contact the Achilles Group if you need assistance with these modifications.
To read Part I of the "Are Firearms in Your Parking Lot?" click here.