Guns in the workplace lead to tragic consequences. Despite that reality, the Indiana House and Senate has each passed legislation that would make it legal for employees to bring guns to work.

Specifically, House Bill 1065 prohibits an employer from adopting or enforcing a policy/rule that  prevents employees from keeping a firearm locked in their vehicle while it’s on the employer’s property.  This bill overturns existing or proposed employers’ workplace safety policies concerning firearms and violates the property rights of employers.

Proponents of this bill emphasize an individual’s right to bear arms, but allowing guns on or near employer property only opens the door for more workplace violence.  The self-defense argument was clearly refuted by a September 2009 study by University of Pennsylvania researchers that reveals that people in possession of a firearm are almost 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a firearm.

A few other sobering facts:

• A previous case study in North Carolina found that the "risk of a worker being killed at work was substantially higher in workplaces where employer policy allowed workers to keep guns” as opposed to places where weapons were prohibited
  
  

• 77% of workplace homicides are committed with firearms
  
  
• 60% of major employers said in a 2005 survey that disgruntled employees had threatened to assault or kill senior managers in the last year

In a time when workplace violence and terrorism incidents are on the rise, passing such a bill into law would be reckless and tempting fate.

With legislators showing no common sense, we need Gov. Daniels to stand up for workplace safety and property owners’ rights by vetoing HB 1065.

Action Needed: Contact Gov. Daniels today. Tell him you do not want workplace safety compromised and your property rights trampled on! Ask the governor to veto HB 1065 when it ultimately arrives to him for signature.