FLORIDA ENACTS PARKING LOT LAW TODAY.

[Right2Carry]

Florida now allows handguns to be kept in your vehicle on employer parking lots. This is A bill to be entitled An act relating to the "Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008"; creating s. 790.251, F.S.; creating the "Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008. Here is the link to the bill:

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/ ... ssion=2008

I would normally hail this as a huge success, but I have problems with the bill. For one in several places it talks about our rights under the 2A to keep and bear arms which normally isn't a problem. What I have a problem with is the list of places where you can't keep your firearms in your vehicle. I have listed the exceptions below.

EXCEPTIONS.--The prohibitions in subsection (4) do not
196 apply to:
197 (a) Any school property as defined and regulated under s.
198 790.115.
199 (b) Any correctional institution regulated under s. 944.47
200 or chapter 957.
201 (c) Any property where a nuclear-powered electricity
202 generation facility is located.
203 (d) Property owned or leased by a public or private
204 employer or the landlord of a public or private employer upon
205 which are conducted substantial activities involving national
206 defense, aerospace, or homeland security.207 (e) Property owned or leased by a public or private
208 employer or the landlord of a public or private employer upon
209 which the primary business conducted is the manufacture, use,
210 storage, or transportation of combustible or explosive materials
211 regulated under state or federal law, or property owned or
212 leased by an employer who has obtained a permit required under
213 18 U.S.C. s. 842 to engage in the business of importing,
214 manufacturing, or dealing in explosive materials on such
215 property.
216 (f) A motor vehicle owned, leased, or rented by a public
217 or private employer or the landlord of a public or private
218 employer.
219 (g) Any other property owned or leased by a public or
220 private employer or the landlord of a public or private employer
221 upon which possession of a firearm or other legal product by a
222 customer, employee, or invitee is prohibited pursuant to any
ENROLLED
CS/HB 503, Engrossed 1 2008 Legislature
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0503-03-er
Page 9 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
223 federal law, contract with a federal government entity, or
224 general law of this state.
225 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008, and
226 shall apply to causes of action accruing on or after that date.

What gets me is that the Legislature makes the following claim:
(3) LEGISLATIVE INTENT; FINDINGS.--This act is intended to
92 codify the long-standing legislative policy of the state that
93 individual citizens have a constitutional right to keep and bear
94 arms, that they have a constitutional right to possess and keep
95 legally owned firearms within their motor vehicles for self96
defense and other lawful purposes, and that these rights are not
97 abrogated by virtue of a citizen becoming a customer, employee,
98 or invitee of a business entity. It is the finding of the
99 Legislature that a citizen's lawful possession, transportation,
100 and secure keeping of firearms and ammunition within his or her
101 motor vehicle is essential to the exercise of the fundamental
102 constitutional right to keep and bear arms and the
103 constitutional right of self-defense. The Legislature finds that
104 protecting and preserving these rights is essential to the
105 exercise of freedom and individual responsibility. The
106 Legislature further finds that no citizen can or should be
107 required to waive or abrogate his or her right to possess and
108 securely keep firearms and ammunition locked within his or her
109 motor vehicle by virtue of becoming a customer, employee, or
110 invitee of any employer or business establishment within the
111 state, unless specifically required by state or federal law.

All of a sudden because I work for a defense contractor I don't have a constitutional right to secure my gun in the parking lot like every other person in Florida? I live in Texas and this is what I fear may be headed our way. I don't understand the mindset of making some parking lots off limits, after all they are only parking lots.

I have a problem with the way the bill starts off and then at the end makes certain parking lots off limits. It appears they are talking out of both sides of their mouths. After all we are only talking about guns, not freaking explosives. I don't see the need to make certain places off limits. Any comments?

[HerbM]