A legality question.

[catfishnguns]

My employer states that we are not permitted to have a firearm in our vehicles in their parking lot. Im pretty confident that they have no right to tell me what I can or can not have in my car at anytime. I am having trouble finding any laws to back this up. A Kentucky law states.Kentucky Revised Statutes sec. 27.020 That section holds, in part, that “[n]o person or organization, public or private, shall prohibit” a concealed carry permit holder from transporting a firearm in his vehicle in accordance with law. Do we have anything in PA to clarify this?

[streaker69]

My employer states that we are not permitted to have a firearm in our vehicles in their parking lot. Im pretty confident that they have no right to tell me what I can or can not have in my car at anytime. I am having trouble finding any laws to back this up. A Kentucky law states.Kentucky Revised Statutes sec. 27.020 That section holds, in part, that “[n]o person or organization, public or private, shall prohibit” a concealed carry permit holder from transporting a firearm in his vehicle in accordance with law. Do we have anything in PA to clarify this?

A private property owner has the right to set limits or conditions to be on the property. Therefore your employer has the right to tell you you cannot have a vehicle if you park it on their property.

[kcr121]

You stated the issue yourself - it's their parking lot. Just like you can set the conditions for who comes into your house, your employer can tell you what you can and cannot do (or what you may or may not bring) on company property.

There is no law in Pennsylvania equivalent to the Kentucky law you cited.

[catfishnguns]

Thanks for the response. That in some ways defeats the purpose of carrying for me considering I do not really travel much other than to and from work especially in the winter time.

[kcr121]

Thanks for the response. That in some ways defeats the purpose of carrying for me considering I do not really travel much other than to and from work especially in the winter time.

You can always park off company property and get some extra exercise.

[Gun]

You can always park off company property and get some extra exercise.

... or move to Kentucky, or Oklahoma. Think Okie feels the same way.

[catfishnguns]

That was the option they gave us, however it just seemed a bit odd that the contents of my vehicle become their business. In my opinion that would be a privacy issue. I suppose that rests solely on the states specific laws dealing with those things. Again thanks for the reply.

[legendarylorot]

Believe it or not, this is something being worked on during this legislative session.

Tada!

Because the issue pits personal protection rights against personal property rights, the correct course of action is as divided here as it likely is in the legislature. A lot of people believe that a business owner has the right to demand anything he feels like on his own property, even if it means everyone has to wear clown shoes, or whatever. Others think that, because the business owner is opening his property to the public (legally, there's a specific term for the class of person the customer falls into, but I can't remember it), he has to forfeit some of his ability to set rules in his establishment (and other property, including the parking lot).

It's a complicated topic, and I barely scraped by my real estate law classes.

But Government exists to protect the rights of citizens, and to settle disputes when these rights conflict. It's just not clear which right prevails.

[catfishnguns]

Yes this is what I was hoping to find hopefully it will become law.http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/...&type=B&bn=886

[mccula]

A quick thought which could be completely wrong, but who knows.
If you work at an establishment where the public is allowed to park (as customers), let's say for example a restaurant.
1.Does the property owner have legal authority to search a car parked on the lot? Or do they need to call the police?
2. Without a warrant, the police can not search the car without probable cause, correct? (which an oral complaint/request from a private person <read: the property owner> should not be considered legal probable cause)
So if it's true they cannot search the car without the police, they can only ask you to remove it (the car- which you would have to do, or else you'd be trespassing.), correct?
I'm pretty sure owning something doesn't give you the ability to search the private property of others without legal reason. (I'm guessing with the exception of a place like a college, where they often write in their parking agreements that you are subject to search blah blah blah which you pretty much have no choice but to legally accept). Other than something like that, that'd be like telling someone that you need to pat them down (and ONLY them, not all the other customers) because you think they may have a weapon.
3. So following this, if you were to simply "accept" the request from the employer not to have a weapon, and really just leave it locked inside your car, without any proper way of knowing it's there, can they legally search it? And if they decide to fire you (without searching or any proof the weapon is there), would it not be wrongful termination? And if they did call the police, could you not simply state "I am leaving the parking lot peacefully" and leave, since you would not be trespassing if you followed their request, and off their property they cannot request the police search the car, right?

I am not a lawyer. I have no idea.
Personally, I'd just say fine, thank you for endangering my life, but yes, I will leave it at home. (and then really, not leave it at home).
But if you really got the stones, you could try to bluff them, and be like "Oh yeah? Well Section (made up number) of PA statute (make up another number) states that under the pennsylvania firearms act (and then state the real number for that since it's real) that no private establishment owner may prevent the transport of a legal firearm inside a personal vehicle that is properly secured.
But if they know their shit, you're screwed lol.