Firearms in Employer Parking Lots? A Defacto Ban on the 2A! Here is the question we receive the most from Iowans:
Can I have a gun in my locked vehicle in my employer’s parking lot?
Richard Rogers, a board member, and IFC’s Chief Lobbyist explains:
IFC has for several years pursued legislation that would prohibit employers from penalizing or dismissing employees on the basis that they have firearms or ammunition out of site in their locked private vehicles on an employer-provided parking area. At least 26 states have such laws. Unfortunately, too many members of the House majority have been unwilling to impose such a mandate on private employers and we have thus not yet been able to get such a bill through the committee process. This remains a major priority for IFC.
In 2023, legislation that was intended to include such a provision, was passed by the House. The mandate on private employers had been removed, but the bill did include similar prohibitions on state and local governments, as well as preventing state universities and community colleges from restricting the lawful possession of weapons in private vehicles on their campuses. That bill, which was an “omnibus” bill containing many other provisions, went to the Senate late in the session and, for various procedural reasons, was not taken up by that body and did not become law.
IFC had legislation drafted in the current session that included these various protections, but the new Chairman of the House Public Safety Committee was unwilling to move that legislation through his committee. IFC will continue to pursue these goals.
There is no law preventing you from having firearms in your vehicle (or on your person) on your employer’s property (except federal property, correctional facilities, National Guard, schools, etc.) However, employers generally have the option of asking to search your vehicle or dismissing you if you refuse. – Richard R. Rogers
Working to change the law is 100% prudent, and we’re going to continue our work. Our posture at IFC, you ask? If your employer seeks to bar you from your unalienable right to bear arms and will release you from employment over them not having “control” over YOUR locked vehicle, they’ve got a fart lodged in their brain. In essence, they believe in the fairy tale nonsense of a “No Guns Zone” more than they cherish your life or your liberty. And that ideology gets people killed. If your employer takes that position, they’ve either not thought through this issue thoroughly, or they genuinely don’t care about you and your fellow employees.
In Libertatem,
Michael Ware – IFC Board
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