Groups oppose gun bill

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 4, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Five trade associations that represent many of the state’s largest employers Thursday asked the governor to veto legislation that would allow employees to carry weapons to work.

If Gov. Bobby Jindal follows their advice, he will anger a group of staunch supporters: the gun lobby. If he doesn’t veto, Jindal likely will anger another base of supporters: large corporations that control hundreds of thousands of jobs in Louisiana.

“Sometimes you have to pick among friends. It’s not a pleasant thing to do,” said Dan Borné, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, which represents 65 chemical corporations, and the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, which represents about 600 companies that supply and service the chemical plants.

In addition, the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., the Louisiana Pulp and Paper Association and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association also wrote Jindal asking him to veto Senate Bill 51, which they call the “bring your gun to work” bill.

“We’ve given the governor good solid reasons to veto this bill,” Borné said Thursday.

The opponents raise several issues including the argument that SB51 precludes their rights as private property owners to decide if someone can bring firearms onto their property.

In May, Jindal received the Harlon B. Carter award from the National Rifle Association, the nationwide advocate for gun owners’ rights. He was awarded for challenging efforts by police to confiscate more than 1,000 guns after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Jindal did not respond to a request for an interview.

“I would be shocked if the governor vetoed the NRA’s hallmark piece of legislation,” said state Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth. “Literally, thousands of members of the NRA, who worked to elect Bobby Jindal, worked to pass this bill.”

McPherson sponsored SB51, which allows a person to have a legal firearm in a locked, privately owned vehicle in any parking area.

McPherson said the legislation seeks to help employees who are fired after unwittingly carrying a firearm in their personal vehicle because they went hunting before or after work.

“In most cases it was them bragging about their hunting and being turned in by fellow workers,” McPherson said Thursday. “This is not a philosophical debate.”

“We’re not at all against people hunting before or after their shifts,” Borné said. “We’re just saying don’t bring your guns to our private parking lots. We realize it could be an inconvenience.”