BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms praised the Florida Legislature today for passing a measure that expands and protects the right of Sunshine State gun owners to have firearms locked in their cars while they are working.

The so-called “take-your-guns-to-work” measure prohibits business owners from banning firearms that are kept locked in cars by their employees when those vehicles are parked on company property.

“We believe this legislation will prevent unfair sanctions against workers who simply want to exercise their constitutional right to have a firearm for their personal protection while traveling to and from work,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Florida citizens who are legally licensed to carry have gone through background checks and a licensing process that certainly establishes their standing as law-abiding. These are not the kind of people who pose a problem in the workplace.”

The legislation now goes to Gov. Charlie Crist. Gottlieb encouraged Florida gun owners to contact the governor’s office and urge him to sign the measure into law.

“The Florida Legislature has taken a courageous and sensible step,” said Joe Waldron, CCRKBA special projects director who resides in Tallahassee. “There is no reason why anyone should face discipline or dismissal for simply having a firearm locked in their car when they have a state-issued permit to carry that firearm elsewhere.”

Contrary to a claim from the president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Waldron said “good policy clearly won over politically-motivated, anti-gun rights hysteria.”