Senate Bill sb0206c1

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 206

    By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senators Peaden,
    Posey, Bennett and Baker




    591-2321-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to lawful ownership,

  3         possession, and use of firearms; amending s.

  4         790.25, F.S., relating to lawful ownership,

  5         possession, and use of firearms and other

  6         weapons; providing definitions; authorizing an

  7         employee or invitee in lawful possession of a

  8         firearm to transport and store a firearm in a

  9         motor vehicle under certain conditions;

10         authorizing an employer or its lessor to

11         prohibit an employee or invitee from

12         transporting, storing, or possessing a firearm

13         under certain conditions when reasonably

14         necessary for the safety and welfare of

15         employees, invitees, or the general public, or

16         to safeguard business operations; providing

17         nonapplicability; providing for specified

18         immunity from liability; providing enforcement

19         by the Attorney General; providing

20         construction; providing applicability of the

21         act; providing an effective date.

22  

23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

24  

25         Section 1.  Subsection (6) is added to section 790.25,

26  Florida Statutes, to read:

27         790.25  Lawful ownership, possession, and use of

28  firearms and other weapons.--

29         (6)  STORAGE AND TRANSPORT OF FIREARMS LOCKED INSIDE OR

30  LOCKED TO A MOTOR VEHICLE IN A PARKING LOT; IMMUNITY FROM

31  LIABILITY.--

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 206
    591-2321-06




 1         (a)  As used in this subsection, the term:

 2         1.  "Employee" means any person who works for an

 3  employer for salary, wages, or other remuneration.

 4         2.  "Employer" means any business having employees

 5  which is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation,

 6  limited liability company, professional association,

 7  cooperative, joint venture, trust, firm, institution, or

 8  association.

 9         3.  "Invitee" means any person on the premises of

10  another at the express or implied invitation of the latter for

11  business purposes, including a customer or visitor lawfully on

12  the premises.

13         4.  "Motor vehicle" means any automobile, truck,

14  minivan, sports utility vehicle, motorcycle, motor scooter, or

15  any other similar vehicle required to be registered under

16  state law.

17         5.  "Parking lot" means any property that is owned or

18  leased by an employer or a landlord of an employer, used for

19  parking motor vehicles, and available to customers, employees,

20  or invitees for temporary or long-term parking or storage of

21  motor vehicles.

22         (b)  Except as prohibited pursuant to paragraph (c) or

23  paragraph (d), an employee or invitee in lawful possession of

24  a firearm may transport and store a firearm locked inside or

25  locked to his or her motor vehicle in a parking lot designated

26  by the employer or its lessor if the firearm is stored in a

27  manner so as not to be visible.

28         (c)  An employer or its lessor may prohibit an employee

29  or invitee from transporting, storing, or possessing a firearm

30  on property owned, leased, or controlled by the employer or

31  its lessor, or from transporting, storing, or possessing a

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 206
    591-2321-06




 1  firearm in any motor vehicle owned, leased, or rented by the

 2  employer, when reasonably necessary for the safety and welfare

 3  of employees, invitees, or the general public, or to safeguard

 4  business operations.

 5         (d)  The provisions of this subsection do not apply to:

 6         1.  School property as defined and regulated under s.

 7  790.115.

 8         2.  Prison facility grounds as defined and regulated

 9  under s. 944.47.

10         3.  Property on which an employee or invitee is

11  otherwise prohibited from transporting, storing, or possessing

12  a firearm pursuant to any federal or state law.

13         (e)  No employer or its lessor, or any employee of an

14  employer or its lessor, shall be liable for any harm that

15  directly or indirectly arises out of or results from the

16  discharge or threatened use of a firearm that was transported

17  or stored by an employee or invitee in a motor vehicle on

18  property owned or leased by the employer or its lessor. The

19  immunity provided in this paragraph shall not apply to any

20  person who discharges or threatens to use the firearm, but it

21  shall extend to the vicarious liability of an employer or its

22  lessor for the actions or inactions of others. The immunity

23  provided in this paragraph shall not apply if the harm

24  involved was caused, in whole or in part, by the employer's or

25  lessor's willful or criminal misconduct or by the employer's

26  or lessor's conscious and flagrant indifference to the safety

27  of the person or persons harmed.

28         (f)  The Attorney General shall enforce the protections

29  of this subsection on behalf of an aggrieved employee or

30  invitee if there is reasonable cause to believe that the

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 206
    591-2321-06




 1  rights of the employee or invitee under this act have been

 2  willfully violated by an employer or its lessor.

 3         (g)  The provisions of this subsection shall not be

 4  construed in derogation of the state's employment-at-will

 5  doctrine.

 6         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

 7  law and shall apply to causes of action that accrue on or

 8  after that date.

 9  

10          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
11                         Senate Bill 206

12                                 

13  -    The Committee Substitute differs from the bill as filed
         in that the Committee Substitute removed the criminal
14       penalty, and provides civil remedies only.

15  -    The Committee Substitute provides that an employer or its
         lessor may prohibit employees or invitees from
16       transporting, storing, or possessing a firearm on its
         property when reasonably necessary for the safety and
17       welfare of employees, invitees, or the general public, or
         to safeguard business operations.
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    -    The Committee Substitute provides that the bill may not
19       be construed in derogation of Florida's employment at
         will doctrine.
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