'Guns at Work' Call to Action

Dear Chamber Members,

We are sending this email to ask you to help us defeat a bill that is making its way through the legislature in Tallahassee. House Bill 503 and Senate Bill 1130, also known as the Guns at Work Bill, are bad for business owners.

Essentially, it strips business owners property rights from them by preventing an employer from telling an employee he/she cannot have a gun in their car at work. Supporters are framing this as right to bear arms bill when in actuality it is a property rights issue. In addition, statewide polls consistently show that Florida voters oppose ‘Guns At Work’ legislation. A recent Florida Chamber poll showed that 80 percent of voters believe that a business owner has the right to decide if employees can bring a gun onto his or her property. The Florida Chamber opposes government intrusion into the private property rights of Florida’s employers.

The Destin Area Chamber of Commerce adamantly opposes this bill because of its intrusion on an employers property rights. While several of our Board members and I have talked with Representatives Ray Sansom and Marti Coley about our opposition to this bill, it appears the bill has support.

We need you to contact our representatives and senators in Tallahassee, as well as Gov. Crist, and express your opposition to this bill. Please let them know the following: 1) you oppose HB 503 and SB 1130; 2) you do not want your property rights as a business owner stripped by these bills; 3) the business is your property and you should be allowed to determine what employees can and cannot bring to work; and 4) do not make Florida an anti-business state by passing bills that negatively affect business owners.

Together, we stand for the private property rights of employers.

For more information on this bill, please visit http://www.flchamber.com/mx/hm.asp?id=080318_4.

Here is the contact information you will need:
Speaker Designate Ray Sansom
Tallahassee: (850) 488-1170
Local Office: (850) 833-9328
ray.sansom@myfloridahouse.gov

Representative Marti Coley
Tallahassee: 850-488-2873
Local Office: 850-747-5596
marti.coley@myfloridahouse.gov

Senator Don Gaetz
Tallahassee: (850) 487-5009
Local Office: (850) 897-5747
gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov

Governor Charlie Crist
(850) 488-4441
Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com

Thank you for your help!