Close on the heels of Florida and Georgia, Louisiana has become the third southern state to recently enact a new “guns at work law”.
The new Louisiana gun law grants properly-licensed individuals the right to store firearms in their privately-owned, locked vehicles in any designated parking area, including employee parking lots and garages provided by employers.
It also prohibits property owners, tenants, businesses, and private- and public-sector employers from interfering with that right, except under certain circumstances.
For example, the new guns at work law allows businesses and employers to require individuals to conceal firearms stored in vehicles or more specifically, to conceal firearms in locked storage compartments within vehicles.
It also allows businesses and employers to create policies that prohibit individuals from storing firearms in their vehicles in parking areas that have restricted access, such as through the use of gates, fences, signs or security stations.
However, if businesses and employers do create such policies, then they must also provide facilities to temporarily store unloaded firearms or alternately, separate parking areas to store firearms in privately-owned, locked vehicles.
The new guns at work law does not apply to employer-provided vehicles, unless employers require employees to transport or store firearms in the normal course of their duties. It also does not apply anywhere that weapons possession is forbidden under Louisiana or Federal law.
Lastly, the new guns at work law does not specifically grant employees the right to carry firearms or any other weapons into the workplace.
Governor Bobby Jindal signed the related bill on July 2, 2008. The new gun law becomes effective on August 15.
This is just a summarization of the Act that will become the new gun law, which is subject to forthcoming regulations. For the exact wording of the Act, see SB51 (Act 684). For legal advice, consult an attorney.
