Mar 22, 2011

The right of vehicles to bear arms.

I don't get Republicans sometimes. Okay make that a lot of the time.

Round these here parts in Texas you'll see on almost every business a sign that explains to you the punishment for unlicensed and/or unregistered firearms that are carried on the premises. I guess there's no harm in stating the law and the company's policy regarding their employees or clients carrying guns.

Recently the Texas Senate passed a bill that restricts businesses from banning guns being left in a person's car while parked in the company's lot. This confuses me. I was always under the assumption that conservatives stood for personal and corporate liberty. Shouldn't someone of Republican values allow a business to form a policy of their own choosing? If Starbucks doesn't want guns in their employee's cars, shouldn't they have the freedom to enforce such a measure? Isn't this a private matter and shouldn't elected officials stay out of it?

Apparently not as the Republican dominated state senate decided government had best step in and protect the second amendment rights of people who wish to have a gun in their car at work. The legal footing of this law is obviously shaky as a private business banning a gun in your car is in no way a violation of the constitution, but I find it amusing, if not frustrating, that business owners, including their employees, can't be allowed the simple freedoms conservatives preach about. As a friend of mine once said, those on the right want small government for themselves and big government for everyone else.

"There's a fear that law-abiding citizens have to pick between their jobs and their Second Amendment rights," - Glenn Hegar

Senate OKs letting Texans keep guns in car at work

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