The Real Gun Guys

Georgia Pacific exempt?

I could make some off color jokes about toilet paper and it’s uses in reference to this story, but I won’t. This is a family blog after all. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking them… Feel free to make up your own.

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Georgia Pacific’s paper mill in Palatka is joining two Orlando theme parks which claim they are exempt from a new state law allowing employees to keep their guns in their cars at work.

Georgia Pacific told its 1,000 workers in Palatka that the Department of Homeland Security is the reason its employees are prohibited from bringing guns to work, said Jeremy Alexander, a company spokesman.

Marion Hammer, past national president of the National Rifle Association, said the exemption is “ludicrous,” adding “they cut down trees and make toilet paper.”

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Disney Update

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Walt Disney World security guard Edwin Sotomayor filed a lawsuit Friday in state Circuit Court in Orlando, challenging Disney’s ban on employees bringing guns to work and seeking to get his job back.

Sotomayor, 36, of Kissimmee was fired Monday from his job as an unarmed, uniformed security officer at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney said he refused to cooperate with investigators who wanted to know whether he had brought a gun to work with him last Friday, as he had suggested he would. He did bring a gun — a .45-caliber Springfield, he said — but he would not talk with Disney officials about it because he thinks he has the right to bring the gun to work and not be subject to search.

The dispute arose from a new Florida law that allows people with concealed-weapons permits to keep guns locked in their vehicle trunks in employee parking lots. Disney World claims it is exempt from the law because of a provision that makes exceptions for companies holding certain federal permits for use of explosives. Disney holds such a permit for its fireworks shows.

Jon H. Gutmacher, Sotomayor’s lawyer, said the burden of proof will be on Disney to show that it is exempt from the law.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would force Disney to return Sotomayor to his job. Gutmacher said Sotomayor also wants Disney to say he has the right to bring his gun to work in his car, “or we’ll be right back here.”

Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez responded: “We have no idea what this lawsuit is about. It doesn’t change our position that the exemption is clear. We won’t compromise the safety of our guests and cast members at the Walt Disney World Resort.“

The irony of this last statement being that Edwin Sotomayer was a security guard there and had been for thirteen years.

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Disney Fires Security Guard

It’s another case of “you’re good enough to protect us, but we don’t trust you to protect yourself.” Let the suit begin!

Disney fires Florida employee in showdown over gun policy

Walt Disney Co. fired a security guard who protested a company policy that bars employees from keeping guns in their cars at work.

Edwin Sotomayor, 36, told reporters last week that he objected to Disney’s position that it was exempt from a new Florida law that lets employees with permits keep guns in their locked cars. When Sotomayor arrived at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando on July 4, he refused to let security managers search his car. He was suspended that day and fired Monday.

“He would not confirm or deny he had a weapon in his vehicle,” Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said Tuesday in an interview. “He refused to allow a search of his vehicle. He was terminated for a violation of company policies, including failure to co-operate with an investigation.”

Sotomayor’s firing follows the July 1 enactment of a law that supporters say protects a citizen’s constitutional right to bear arms. The Florida Retail Federation and the state’s Chamber of Commerce sued in federal court to strike down the law, saying it exposes employees and customers to “physical harm and death.” A judge is expected to rule later this month.

The law doesn’t apply to schools, jails and nuclear power plants or employers in national defence, aerospace, homeland security and explosives manufacturing and storage. Suarez said Disney, which operates theme parks and resorts in the Orlando area, is exempt because it stores fireworks.

“The exemption is clear,” Suarez said. “The safety of our guests is our top priority, and we don’t want it compromised.”

Walt Disney World Resort has 62,000 employees, she said.

Sotomayor said he alerted the media last week that he would bring a gun onto Disney property to protest the company’s “ridiculous” stance on the new law. He said he was concerned for his safety on his 37-kilometre commute to work because of rising crime in central Florida.

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Unrest in the Magic Kingdom

Disney claims they are exempt from the Florida law allowing employees to keep a gun in their car on company property. Now a security guard is willing to risk his 13 year career at the Happiest Place On Earth to challenge this claim.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — A Disney security guard told Eyewitness News he’s okay with being fired rather than go to work unprotected. Disney claims it’s exempt from a new state law that allows employees to keep handguns in their cars.

The employee Eyewitness News talked with is not concerned about safety at the park. He’s concerned about a rise in crime everywhere else.

As a security guard, Edwin Sotomayer works strange hours and says he has a right to feel safe when he is commuting to and from the theme parks. He has been a Disney security guard for more than 13 years, but he’s willing to lose his job to stand up for his right to bring a gun to work.

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