Politicians might not act to ban guns, but employers can
In the absence of political action to reduce gun violence, here’s one thing you can do today to reduce the risk in your community: oust guns from your workplace and the parking lots at work.
With very few exceptions, employers nationwide have the absolute right to ban guns in the workplace, though some states require employers to post specific signs to ban guns. The overwhelming majority of states do not require employers to allow guns into their workplaces if the employers don’t want guns there.
These employers can ban all guns, regardless of who is bringing them: employees, independent contractors, customers, guests, business partners — anyone. Not only can the employers ban open carry of weapons at work, they can also ban concealed carry of weapons.
Therefore, even if the gun owner can lawfully carry a concealed weapon outside the workplace, these employers can prohibit them from doing so at work.
The Second Amendment does not change this conclusion. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Second Amendment as protecting “the right to own a gun in one’s home for self-defense,” it only prohibits governments, not private employers, from infringing on certain rights related to gun ownership. Plus, the Supreme Court has never interpreted the Second Amendment to force business owners to let gun owners bring guns to work.
Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to parking lots at work. Roughly half the states maintain so-called “bring your guns to work” laws which prohibit employers from keeping guns out of their parking lots. In Texas, for example, state law bars employers from restricting employees who lawfully possess guns or ammo from
keeping those items in a locked car at work.
However, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision may have rendered these “bring your guns to work” laws unconstitutional. In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the Supreme Court struck down California regulations guaranteeing union organizers access to agricultural employers' premises (that is, their farms and fields) for the purpose of organizing employees.
It reasoned that these regulations, by taking away the landowners' “right to exclude” people from their property, amounted to an unconstitutional taking of private property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth and 14th Amendments.
“Bring your guns to work” laws do the same thing. If the Constitution prohibits the government from requiring private property owners to allow someone — or something — onto their property without compensation, it should apply to both union organizers and guns. Moreover, Hassid undermines the arguments that lower courts had used to uphold “bring your guns to work” laws' constitutionality. Specifically, that the state isn't taking property; it's just regulating property use.
Armed with this knowledge, go to work tomorrow and ask your HR department: “Do our policies explicitly ban guns at work? If not, shouldn't they, and what do we need to do to ban guns in our workplace?”
For those who are really bold, go to the next level: “If our state forces private employers to let guns onto their property against their will, are we willing to ban guns in our parking lot anyway, risk a state investigation and potential fines, and consider challenging the state's unconstitutional actions in court?”
You may get pushback. Employers may be wary of “politicizing” the recent tragedies or alienating certain coworkers. They may argue that enforcing gun bans at work and in parking lots would be difficult, if not impossible. They may argue that such policies wouldn't stop someone from going home, grabbing a gun and coming back to work to kill people.
True. But these policies also may save lives. Workplace violence is on the rise. We have seen story after story of disgruntled workers retrieving a gun from their car and shooting their coworkers and others, sometimes leading to multiple casualties.
This reality, coupled with the need for action in the wake of the Uvalde and Buffalo tragedies, compels us to do everything in our power to make communal spaces like our schools, grocery stores and workplaces safer from the threat of mass shootings.