Gun rights battle moves to the parking lot

It's no secret that Texans like their guns — why, Houstonist is packing heat right this second, because hey, you just never know. Even so, businesses can (and do) prevent people from carrying concealed weapons into their buildings, and now Houston-based ConocoPhillips is trying to get guns barred from parking lots, too. Drunks getting arrested in bars, guns getting banned from parking lots — what next? They won't let us park our horses in the median? Oh, wait.

Actually, the controversy hasn't really reached Texas yet, but it's nearby: ConocoPhillips and some other companies are challenging an Oklahoma law that allows workers to leave guns in cars parked on company property. Though the company says it supports the Second Amendment, but it's trying to promote a "safe and secure working environment for its employees by keeping guns out of their worksites, specifically refineries, natural gas plants and distribution terminals." As expected, there's the argument that banning guns from parking lots would infringe on people's civil liberties, and some employees say it would take away their ability to protect themselves going to and from work. (To hear some people talk, you'd think we all dodge bullets during our morning commute.)

The pro-ban side has brought up the possibility of workplace violence — you know, when an employee would get upset and run to the parking lot to get a weapon, like they do. But Sue King of the NRA said that's not a sound argument:

"If you think back to the incidents of workplace violence that we occasionally, rarely have in this country and keeping the Oklahoma legislation in mind, you'll realize that those people who commit workplace violence are either outright criminals, they're mentally unbalanced or they are true psychopaths," King said.

The controversy isn't new; for some time, the NRA has been pushing for legislation nationwide that would allow people to keep weapons in locked cars. The push hasn't always been successful: Earlier this month, the Virginia state senate turned aside such a bill.