http://www.economist.com/world/na/di...ry_id=11670740

The Economist
July 3, 2008

Gun control
Showdown
Jul 3rd 2008 | AUSTIN AND TAMPA
From The Economist print edition

Gun owners are becoming emboldened. That may be premature

ON JUNE 26th the Supreme Court overturned the District of Columbia’s handgun ban and asserted that individuals have the right to own guns. Gun enthusiasts rejoiced. But as they move to capitalise on this favourable judgment, they may run into new problems.

Consider two developing gun-rights controversies. On July 1st Florida became the fourth state to allow people to bring their guns to work. The gun has to stay locked in the car, and its owner must have a concealed-weapons permit. You cannot bring your gun if you work in a school, hospital, prison or power plant.

The law is good news for Floridians with a dangerous commute. Those who like to go hunting after work are also excited. But the prospect of heavily fortified strip-malls alarms others. The state leads the nation in concealed weapons permits; half a million people have them.


Florida Democrats opposed the measure. But its passage has a silver lining for them. The law has created a rift between two old allies in the Republican Party: the gun-rights crowd and business owners. The latter believe that it conflicts with their property rights. Employers are not allowed to ask workers if they have a gun in the glove box. If an employee opens fire at work, worries Irwin Stotzky of the University of Miami, the employer could be held responsible in a civil suit. The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation are suing to overturn the law. Robert Hinkle, a Tallahassee judge, will weigh in later this month. He has already said that the law is poorly written and “stupid”. Guns at work could be a useful election-year issue for Democrats.

A similar development is brewing in Texas. The state welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. Its senior senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, was a leading opponent of the District’s gun ban. She herself keeps “the normal handguns and shotguns” at home. But now there is a controversial movement afoot to allow people to carry their handguns openly, as the cowboys used to do. Texas is one of only six states where guns must be hidden. “Open-carry” advocates say that carrying a gun is natural, and that having to hide it is unfair. They add that people wear lots of things on their belts, such as BlackBerrys. Almost 18,000 people have signed one online petition. One supporter recently had two chainsaws stolen in a parking lot, and he said it would never have happened had he had his gun handy.

In this case, too, most Democrats are appalled. But they can let Republicans take up the fight for them. Plenty of gun proponents oppose open-carry. Joe Driver, a Republican representative from Garland, is more interested in efforts to get Texas its own guns-at-work law. As for the open-carry movement, he likes the idea that criminals don’t know who is carrying a gun. That way, perhaps, they have to be extra careful.