POINT/COUNTERPOINT.

• Author: VILOS, JAMES D.
• Position: Two opinions on guns at work

JAMES (MITCH) D. VILOS

Can on employer lawfully stop employees from bringing guns to the workplace?

Attorney and author of "Utah Gun Law: Good, Bad and Ugly"

NO Employers cannot legally stop, and shouldn't want to stop, employees from bringing a gun to the workplace. Gun free zones create free kill zones. A disgruntled employee bent on killing his fellow employees is not going to be deterred by the threat of being fired for violating his company's no weapons policy. Such policies simply disarm the innocent and leave them defenseless when an employee or someone else "goes postal."

Utah is an employment-at-will state. This means an employer can terminate an employee for any reason unless the termination violates a clear and substantial Utah public policy. If it does, the employer is guilty of wrongful termination.

An examination of Utah's Constitution, weapons laws and criminal laws reveals a strong public policy against depriving citizens of the right to defend themselves. Utah's Constitution states that Utahns have a right to possess firearms to protect themselves and their families and for other lawful purposes such as hunting and recreation.

The concealed weapon statute says that Utahns with concealed weapon permits (CWPs) may carry concealed weapons throughout the state without restriction. The only exceptions are government facilities with secured areas such as the Salt Lake Airport. Secured areas with metal detectors ensure that no one has a firearm.

Although churches and private individuals may post signs prohibiting weapons, this right does not apply to other private entities such as businesses. The logic behind these laws is that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens (felons are not permitted to possess firearms) deter violent crimes. The criminal laws of the state permit anyone threatened with deadly force to defend him or herself with deadly force. Such legal protections are meaningless if employers deprive their employees of the right to defend themselves at work.

Because Utah's public policy is so clearly in favor of the rights of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves with firearms, an employer who terminates an employee for exercising this right is guilty of wrongful termination. Thus, employers may not legally stop employees, who are in all other respects complying with the law (such as having a CWP), from bringing their defensive weapons into the workplace.

MICHAEL PATRICK O'BRIEN

Employment attorney and legal...