Little Green Footballs

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Gun nuts

Is this the craziest thing you've ever heard? How can people seriously talk about 'taking firearms into the workplace'? How is it protecting peoples rights when companies have no control who brings weapons into their buildings?

The National Rifle Association has launched a 50-state campaign to pass "take-your-guns-to-work" laws that would turn companies into criminals if they barred guns on their private property. The Brady Center's new report: Forced Entry: The National Rifle Association's Campaign To Force Businesses To Accept Guns At Work blows the whistle on the NRA's strategy and explains how it tramples property rights and the right of businesses to set the terms and conditions of work. It also conflicts with companies' federal obligation to provide a safe workplace. Gun violence in the workplace is a serious national problem. Forcing guns into that setting can only make the problem worse.

* 77% of workplace homicides are committed with firearms.

* Murder is the leading cause of injury-related death for women in the workplace.

* 60% of major employers said in a 2005 survey that disgruntled employees had threatened to assault or kill senior managers in the last year.

* A May 2005 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that workplaces where guns were permitted were 5 to 7 times more likely to be the site of a workplace homicide compared to workplaces where guns are prohibited.

* Dozens of workplace shootings occur every year.



Via The Brady Campaign

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