The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Carry in National Park but not Buildings?

Squibround · August 25, 2012, 06:08 PM

I also work in a federal building in a gun-friendly state. Gun owners make up a large percentage of the workers in our facility and just this week we find ourselves gnashing our teeth over our administrator's apparently new policy extending the "weapons-free" zone to include our parking lot. I am curious if James or any other federal workers have run into this same issue. I should point out that our facility is in a rural setting and our parking lot is just that: a parking lot and not a garage or structure. The parking lot has recently been enclosed by a fence with a "badge-in" gate but the gate is generally left open during daytime work hours.

In the facility-wide e-mail that went out, the administrator cited 41 CFR 102-74.440 and 18 USC 930 as well as our agency's corporate policy (which uses the same wording). None of those citations say anything about a parking lot. In fact, the agency's corporate policy specifically defines the agency space as a "building or structure." We think the administrator is just reaching here.

In addition to firearms, the e-mail went on to include the oft-quoted list of prohibited items (batons, pocket knives over 2.5", pepper-spray, etc.). So, in this instance, our administrator has managed to upset a larger class than simply the firearms owners. We have night shift workers in our facility, a lot of whom are women, so many of them were upset to learn that they aren't even allowed to keep pepper-spray in their cars.

The parking lot policy sounds bogus to me, but I am curious to know if any of you have faced this same thing with your federal employer.

August 25, 2012, 06:08 PM	#20
Squibround Junior Member Join Date: August 25, 2012 Posts: 1	What About Parking Lots? I also work in a federal building in a gun-friendly state. Gun owners make up a large percentage of the workers in our facility and just this week we find ourselves gnashing our teeth over our administrator's apparently new policy extending the "weapons-free" zone to include our parking lot. I am curious if James or any other federal workers have run into this same issue. I should point out that our facility is in a rural setting and our parking lot is just that: a parking lot and not a garage or structure. The parking lot has recently been enclosed by a fence with a "badge-in" gate but the gate is generally left open during daytime work hours. In the facility-wide e-mail that went out, the administrator cited 41 CFR 102-74.440 and 18 USC 930 as well as our agency's corporate policy (which uses the same wording). None of those citations say anything about a parking lot. In fact, the agency's corporate policy specifically defines the agency space as a "building or structure." We think the administrator is just reaching here. In addition to firearms, the e-mail went on to include the oft-quoted list of prohibited items (batons, pocket knives over 2.5", pepper-spray, etc.). So, in this instance, our administrator has managed to upset a larger class than simply the firearms owners. We have night shift workers in our facility, a lot of whom are women, so many of them were upset to learn that they aren't even allowed to keep pepper-spray in their cars. The parking lot policy sounds bogus to me, but I am curious to know if any of you have faced this same thing with your federal employer.