07 LC 29
2690S
The
Senate Judiciary Committee offers the following substitute to SB
43:
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to carrying and possession of firearms, so as to
prohibit certain employers from prohibiting employees from lawfully carrying and
possessing firearms in locked motor vehicles; to provide for immunity for
employers who allow employees to possess firearms in locked vehicles on the
premises of such employer; to provide for civil remedies; to provide for related
matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Part
3 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to carrying and possession of firearms, is amended by adding
a new Code section to read as follows:
"16-11-135.
(a)
Except as provided in this Code section, no private or public employer shall
establish, maintain, or enforce any policy or rule that has the effect of
prohibiting an employee from transporting or storing a firearm in a locked motor
vehicle in any parking lot, parking garage, or other employee parking
area.
(b)
Subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply:
(1)
To an employer providing applicable employees with a secure parking area which
restricts general public access through the use of a gate, security station, or
other similar means which limit public access into the parking
area;
(2)
To vehicles owned or leased by an employer and used by the employee in the
course of his or her business;
(3)
To an employee who is restricted from carrying or possessing a firearm on the
employer´s premises due to a pending or completed disciplinary
action;
(4)
To any penal institution, correctional institution, detention facility,
diversion center, jail, or similar place of confinement or confinement
alternative;
(5)
To any United States Department of Defense contractor operating a facility on or
contiguous with a United States military base or installation; or
(6)
Where transport of a firearm on the premises of the employer is prohibited by
state or federal law.
(c)
No employer shall be held liable in any civil action for damages resulting from
or arising out of an occurrence involving the transportation, storage,
possession, or use of a firearm pursuant to this Code section unless such
employer commits a criminal act involving the use of a firearm or unless the
employer knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known that the
person using such firearm would commit such criminal act on the employer´s
premises. Nothing contained in this Code section shall create a new duty on the
part of the employer."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.