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Bill would keep employers from asking about gun ownership

DonTreadOnMe

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Bill would keep employers from asking about gun ownership

by Janice Francis-Smith
The Journal Recrd December 15, 2008 OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, is not interested in applying for a job with President-elect Barack Obama’s administration. But he is very interested in the implications of question number 59 on the seven-page questionnaire Obama’s transition team was widely reported to have distributed to applicants. And Duncan has a keen interest in ensuring that no employer in Oklahoma ever attempts to pose a similar question to its applicants.
“Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage,” reads Obama’s transition team questionnaire for applicants, as published by Time magazine and several other news sources. “I was shocked when I read and heard about this,” said Duncan. “Despite his words to the contrary, it’s pretty clear he’s a gun-grabber. My take is, he seems to be eliminating people from employment in his administration and transition team based on gun ownership.”
Duncan filed House Bill 1025 for consideration by the Oklahoma Legislature during the 2009 session. The bill would make it a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail for a private employer to ask an applicant if they own or possess a firearm.

Public employers would likewise be prohibited by HB 1025 from asking if an applicant is a gun owner. Any public employer or public official who asks an applicant such a question would be deemed to be acting outside the scope of their employment and would therefore be barred from seeking immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims Act.

“There is a clear constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” said Duncan. On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has declared his intent to enact legislation “to prohibit this type of discrimination,” in response to the firearms question on the Obama team’s questionnaire.
 

hsmith

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If asking about peoples religious affiliations is illegal under the 1st amendment, why isn't asking about their firearm ownership?

It is personal, no?
 

KansasMustang

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Just me saying it, but it might be nice to have the bill state that ANY questions not pertaining to the actual employment are illegal. Like what business is it of their's ? Had a boss that constantly gave me a ration of S@*t about owning horses,,like,,WTF business is it of his?
 

Tess

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If asking about peoples religious affiliations is illegal under the 1st amendment, why isn't asking about their firearm ownership?
Asking about any of this isn't illegal (despite what many HR representatives will tell you). What isillegal is making a hiring decision on any factor that is not job-related. Most companies treat those questions as illegal simply to protect themselves. If they ask the question, they cannot prove the answer didn't factor in to the hiring decision.

Which is why the Obama thing annoys me so much. I can understand not wanting the presidency embarrassed, but this is not information that should be embarrassing. If others, including hiring officials in the federal government, cannot make decisions based on this, why is he implying he would? As a matter of course, OPM does not allow this information to be a part of job actions; what makes the Obama empire different?
 

Gordie

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Tess wrote:
If others, including hiring officials in the federal government, cannot make decisions based on this, why is he implying he would? As a matter of course, OPM does not allow this information to be a part of job actions; what makes the Obama empire different?
Liberals always assume that the rules only apply to the little people over which they rule, not to themselves.
 
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