From one of the best fake news shows on Comedy Central:

Apparently Rep. Sally Kern – a self-described “‘outdoors girl’ who is well acquainted with firearms” – didn’t learn in concealed carry class not to take her gun through Capitol security.

Twice.

The report from KJRH NBC-2 (Tulsa):

A state representative who gained national notoriety with an anti-homosexual rant was stopped from entering the state Capitol Wednesday when she was found to have a loaded handgun in her purse, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.

Patrol spokesman Chris West also confirmed a second incident in which Rep. Sally Kern was in the building with a gun in June.

Guns and knives are prohibited in the Capitol and those who enter must pass through an airport-style security checkpoint, including a metal detector and an X-ray machine. It is a misdemeanor to bring a weapon in. Signs warn visitors that firearms are prohibited.

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Just the sort of “law-abiding gun owner” we can trust to be responsible with a firearm.

NewsWatch asked this back on July 4th.

Florida citizen Stanley Eskin asks that question and others in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel today:

Re “Drivers’ quarrel leads to deadly shooting” (July 4): Now that the law is on the books, that a person can keep a gun in his car while the car is parked on his workplace lot, I wonder how many more unfortunate deadly shootings we’ll be reading about in the future?

I ask this after reading about Thomas Thompson shooting and killing David Figueroa over a “mere scratch” on one of the cars’ bumpers.

However, another very important question is how Thompson, who has a “valid concealed weapons permit,” was able to obtain that permit, let alone being able to even own a gun, when he was sentenced to a year’s probation and fined on cocaine possession charges in 1999 and then received the same sentence on the same charges in 2001?

How many similar situations will we be reading about when people out there with as much hidden rage as Thompson do the same thing at any given moment?

All of these are great questions the lawmakers in Tallahassee should have to answer.

Foremost among them: Is the drug-using Mr. Thompson the type of “law-abiding gun owner” the Florida legislature wants walking around with a permit to carry a loaded, concealed handgun?

Should he even be allowed to buy a weapon in the first place?

Florida’s new guns-at-work law lets concealed carry permit-holders like Thompson take their guns to work whether their employer likes it or not.

Thankfully, Walt Disney World, Georgia Pacific, Universal Studios, and the Jacksonville Electric Authority have found exceptions in the law they believe will let them maintain their “no guns” policies, to help keep their staff and property safe.

The list keeps growing.

This report in First Coast News:

The Jacksonville Electric Authority joins other Florida companies in deciding not to allow employees to take guns to work, despite a new law.

Since July 1, gun owners who have a concealed weapons permit are allowed to take guns to work as long as they remain locked in their vehicle. The law does provide for exceptions.

Exceptions spelled out in the law give an out to schools, prisons, nuclear power plants, military facilities and buildings that store explosives. The JEA on the advise [sic] of General Counsel’s Office says the law does not pertain to the public utility company. City attorney Mary Jarrett told First Coast News since the JEA handles “combustible materials” the law does not apply.

Late last month before the law went into effect, a memo was sent to JEA employees telling them that nothing has changed.

William L. Bland, Manager of Security for JEA, in the memo said, “Firearms will continue to prohibited on JEA property.”

The memo goes on to say that JEA employees or contractors doing business with the JEA should not bring guns to any property or have them in their possession.

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After Disney, Universal Studios and Georgia Pacific have apparently added their names to the list of employers who prefer to protect their staff and property by maintaining their “no guns” policies.

Per WFTV ABC-9 (Orlando):

First, it was Disney. Now the controversy over a new state law that allows people to carry guns to work is impacting Universal Studios. Last week, a Disney fired a worker who brought a gun to work (read report). Now the story is getting even bigger.

The Attorney General’s Office is now looking into more than 200 complaints against several companies, including Universal and Disney.

Universal has a work study program with the Orange County School District. Eleventh and 12th graders go to school there half a day and work there half a day. Schools are exempt from the new gun law, so Universal says the entire theme park is too, even though it only has 45 students.

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