A new Florida law intended to prohibit public and private employers alike from banning guns locked inside cars in their parking lots is so badly written it's "stupid," a federal judge declared Wednesday.
-Most sensible people think Federal Judges are stupid - so it makes sense! - Tiger
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declined, however, to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction before the law takes effect next Tuesday.
Hinkle said he needed more time to study the issue and doubted two business groups challenging the law would suffer irreparable harm before he makes a decision, probably in mid-July.
The law bars employers from prohibiting workers, customers and other visitors from keeping a legally possessed firearm locked in their cars parked on the employers' property.
It says an employer is a business or public-sector entity that has "employees," who are defined as people with valid licenses to carry concealed weapons.
The law, thus, doesn't apply to a business that doesn't have any workers with a concealed weapon permit, Hinkle said. He said that means one business may have to comply, while another next door is exempt.
"Stupid isn't it?" he asked while questioning an attorney for the state.
-Is a person exempt from obtaining a consealed carry permit? Does this mean a person who doesn't have one isn't complying with the LAW? Methinks the Judge is STUPID! - Tiger
A lawyer for the National Rifle Association, Christopher Kise, later told Hinkle the Legislature made a rational distinction to protect the gun-carrying rights of workers who have such permits.
-Judge Hinkle doesn't want to protect the good guys! - Just the bad! - Tiger
The argument came hours after a man killed five people and himself at a Kentucky plastics plant with a pistol he apparently kept in his car. (caused by a permit, probably, or a bad law; not a human! - Tiger)
The NRA made passage of the Florida law a priority, contending it's needed to protect the constitutional right to bear arms.
Lawmakers also were heavily lobbied by business interests that opposed it, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Retail Federation. They argued the measure puts employees and customers in danger, infringes on the property rights of businesses and violates a federal occupational safety law.
The two organizations teamed up again to file the lawsuit. Their lawyer, Barry Richard, told Hinkle the law is "irrational."
He noted that it includes exceptions for such high-security entities as prisons, nuclear power plants and explosives plants, yet allows people to keep guns in cars parked at day care centers and nursing homes. (... of course!; it's those DANGEROUS kids and old people! They DON'T need protecting. The pedophiles and granny rapists vote Dem anyway and always innocent! - Tiger)
"The Legislature itself recognized the prospect of the possibility of an injury" by making exceptions and giving employers immunity from liability that may result from obeying the law, said Richard.
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