k1047_BC_OK_GunLawInjunction_10_06_0450
By: Tulsa World

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma employers can ban employees from bringing guns to the workplace and leaving them in their vehicles, a federal judge in Tulsa has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Terence Kern issued a 93-page written order in which he said amendments to the Oklahoma Firearms Act and the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act conflict with a federal law meant to protect employees at their jobs.

Assistant Attorney General Sherry Todd said Friday that Kern's opinion likely will be appealed.

The amendments to the laws were made after Weyerhauser Corp. fired eight employees in 2002 when guns were found in their cars on company lots in Oklahoma. Federal courts later upheld the firings.

Kern, in issuing a permanent injunction, said the amendments "criminally prohibit an effective method of reducing gun-related workplace injuries and cannot co-exist with federal obligations and objectives."

The law was to go into effect Nov. 1, 2004, but then-U.S. Chief District Judge Sven Erik Holmes issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 29, 2004, which prevented the amendments from going into effect while the court further analyzed the issues.

Whirlpool Corp. had filed a lawsuit Oct. 27, 2004, challenging the law as unconstitutional and saying it would undermine its policies to protect its workers.

Whirlpool later bowed out of the case and Williams Cos. and ConocoPhillips took over as the primary plaintiffs. Williams also later dropped out of the lawsuit, leaving ConocoPhillips, which is based in Houston but employs more than 3,000 people in Oklahoma, as the sole plaintiff.

Tulsa attorney Steve Broussard, representing ConocoPhillips, said that the company is pleased with the ruling.

Kern concluded that the proposed changes to Oklahoma law conflict with -- and are legally pre-empted by -- the 1970 Occupational Health and Safety Act.

That federal law requires employers to lessen hazards in their workplaces that could lead to death or serious bodily harm. The measure also encourages employers to prevent gun-related workplace injuries.

Rep. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, was the principal author of the 2004 bill in the House.

"I guess federal judges can do anything they want. They don't have to worry about the voters," Ellis said.

He said the ruling increases the chances that someone will kill a lot of people before law enforcement personnel can respond to a 911 call.

"A hand on a gun is better than a cop on the phone," he said.

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