The Georgia General Assembly will convene in one week. 
 
Sources confirm that legislation written by the National Rifle Association's Washington lobbyists to forbid property owners and employers (public and private) from establishing policies to prevent the introductions of guns into the workplace ... will be brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote in the first few days.
 

Section 3 of HB 89 is an NRA-backed, government grab of private property rights.  The NRA's "parking lot" language takes away from business owners the decision of if, when and how firearms may be introduced to the workplace and gives it exclusively to the government.  As one NRA-certified instructor and business owner said:
 
"I allow employees to keep guns in their cars, and on their person at work.  But I oppose this legislation.  This decision is a decision best left for each company to make itself, not the government.  Such decisions are the responsibility and reward and the very definition of ownership."
 
The NRA parking lot bill is in clear conflict with federal law, particularly the "general duty" clause of the Occupational Safety and Hazard Act (OSHA).  In fact, the Oklahoma law on which the Georgia bill is modeled was struck down late last year by a federal court for this very reason.
 
Increased insurance rates.  Workers' compensation insurance premiums, premise liability coverage, employment practices liability coverage, general liability insurance, and errors and omissions liability insurance are all subject to increase or termination for businesses that cannot satisfactorily demonstrate to their legal counsel and risk management and insurance companies that they are in compliance with OSHA and other standards.
 
Is a government mandate that turns the benefit of "employee parking" into some sort of enshrined new right, actually giving employees greater rights over employee-provided parking lots than the owner him or herself.
 
More litigation.  The bill creates a new cause of action against employers who are accused of failing to comply with the bill.  The measure, if it becomes law, also will be litigated at a cost to the state.  In addition, the sugar-coated immunity language in Section 3 won't stand a day in court, most attorneys say.  The language essentially absolves a property owner or business from any and all liability arising from the commission of a crime using a firearm on their premises or from an accidental shooting.
 
Weakens loss prevention efforts.  The bill permits vehicle searches ONLY WHEN an employee consents or by "licensed private security officers" and ONLY WHEN the legal standard of "probable cause" is met and ONLY IF a business searches all vehicles entering the property on a "uniform and frequent basis."

This message brought to you from the GA Chamber of Commerce.