Guns at Disneyworld.

[Tref]

Guns is not a new Pixar film about a town of talking firearms, but a battle Disney is fighting in Florida -- your thoughts?

Gun Control’s Newest Champion: Disney?

Gun control advocates are reeling after the Supreme Court struck down a 32-year-old D.C. handgun ban, essentially handing a victory banner to the NRA. But now there’s cause to take heart: Disney’s got your back, thanks to a technological loophole.
While Florida recently enacted a law allowing residents with proper permits to keep guns locked in their cars at work, the state’s biggest corporate juggernaut has announced plans to exempt its 60,000 employees from the law. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the company has turned up its nose at lawmakers, circulating an internal memo advising employees that bringing unauthorized guns onto Disney property was grounds for termination.

To read the whole article, click here (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/realitybase/2008/07/08/gun-controls-newest-champion-disney/)

Disney guard fired over concealed weapon

ORLANDO, Fla., July 8 (UPI) -- A security guard fired from Florida's Disney World over his wish to keep a concealed weapon in his car is vowing to continue the fight.
Edwin Sotomayor, 36, of Orlando, was terminated Monday for violating three Disney employee policies ...

Sotomayor announced he intended to bring a gun to work, locked in his vehicle. Then after he showed up at Animal Kingdom Friday, he declined to let Disney authorities search his car, leading to his suspension and firing.

Sotomayor said he expects the security guards' union to challenge his termination after 13 years at Disney World ...

"I am not going to stop this fight," he said. "This is going to end somewhere good."

To read the whole article, click here (http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/08/Disney_guard_fired_over_concealed_weapon/UPI-92011215532842/)

Mickey (http://www.toytokyo.com/productImages/2866_1.jpg) to support the bill? Maybe. But Dumbo (http://www.seancoon.org/wp-content/postimages/rove-disney.jpg) is definitely on board!
Bullets (http://www.gifs.net/Animation11/Everything_Else/Guns_and_Cannons/2_bullets.gif) can be cute!
What about the guests (http://www.cfnews13.com/uploadedImages/Media/Images/Gun%20At%20Magic%20Kingdom.jpg)?
Do ray guns (http://www.julesverne.ca/images/imgjvgames+toys/movie_toy_20k_disney_nemo_gun_yellow.jpg) count?
To fire weapon, place finger on Donald (http://www.secure.figures.com/tomart/catalog/images/donaldducksquirtgun.jpg)'s crotch
They (http://www.ushuntingtoday.com/images/NRA.JPG) will fight to the death for your right to fight to the death, or just shoot up a lot of people in Disneyland.
Unforgiven's Little Bill Daggett (http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=77196&rendTypeId=4) hired to check for guns at employee entrance.
Dead kids (http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/08_03/MurderedTeens1_468x600.jpg) to support Disney's ban on guns
Why does this man (http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/images/WaltDisneyMickey.jpg) hate our civil liberties?

[Moonliner]

No company should be above the law. Disney is no exception.

The law of the land in Florida is that private citizens are allowed to store firearms in their cars. The "fireworks" claim is a sham.; Disney is just attempting to enforce their own laws at the expense of civil liberties.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Does the fact that it is private property make any difference?

[~MS~]

See to me, this is on the same level as drinking....it's totally legal to drink (if you're of legal drinking age) but any employer has the right to say you may NOT drink on company time or properties. Same thing, Disney isn't saying their employees can't own or conceal weapons, they just are banning them from their private property. I don't see that as being 'above the law'

[scaeagles]

I'm not exactly sure what i think about this. I am big into private property rights.

If it were the opposite, and the law was that conceal carry in a car was specifically disallowed by law, Disney would have no legal authority to say that employees of theirs were allowed to do so.

However, even though free speech is a specific constitutional right, it is reasonable to suggest that Disney employees can't tell guests that Universal is a better deal and more fun and could be fired for doing so.

In AZ, there are many public smoking bans, and private property owners are not allowed to simply exclude themselves because they wish to allow smoking.

I can see both sides, but i would figure Disney is in the wrong.

[Moonliner]

See to me, this is on the same level as drinking....it's totally legal to drink (if you're of legal drinking age) but any employer has the right to say you may NOT drink on company time or properties. Same thing, Disney isn't saying their employees can't own or conceal weapons, they just are banning them from their private property. I don't see that as being 'above the law'

The law (http://lisahome.blogspot.com/2008/07/floridas-guns-at-work-law.html)specifically states that employees have a right to store a firearm in their vehicle while at work. So the "private property" argument is moot. Of course there are exceptions for schools and the like but theme parks are not part of those exceptions which is why Disney (and Universal but not Sea World) is trying wiggle their way out of the law.

[Ghoulish Delight]

It's not illegal to look at porn, make personal phone calls, sit and stare at a wall without doing any work, make sexual advances towards a person, tell a secret to someone you're not supposed to. All of these are acts that you cannot, and should not be arrested for. But they are all also acts that you can and, depending on the case, should be fired for.

Conditions for employment is not the same thing as law.

ETA: Ah, was unaware of the "Guns at Work Law". In that case, Disney is clearly in the wrong if it's explicitly codified into law

[innerSpaceman]

You need a Florida lawyer, and then a court to determine this ... but my take on it is that it's private property, and guns can be forbidden anywhere on private property.


The Supreme Court ruling does not allow someone to drive into my home (say, if I had a beautiful home fit for cars, like a nice dealership) and have gun in there simply because it's in his car that's inside my home.


BTW: There are going to be TONS of lawsuits over the Supreme Court ruling to determine the new boundaries on gun control laws, and to reverse tons of convictions that were based on the now-unconstitutional gun control laws.

[Tref]

ETA: Ah, was unaware of the "Guns at Work Law". In that case, Disney is clearly in the wrong if it's explicitly codified into law

Sometimes being in the wrong is a good thing.

[Moonliner]

The Supreme Court ruling does not allow someone to drive into my home (say, if I had a beautiful home fit for cars, like a nice dealership) and have gun in there simply because it's in his car that's inside my home.


The Supreme Count rulling? No, it does not. However the Florida:

"Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008" does, assuming your nice house is in Florida and we are talking about an employee of yours that works in the house.

[innerSpaceman]

The Supreme Court ruling allows me to have a firearm in my home. It does not allow anyone to have a firearm in my home. A robber cannot come into my home with a firearm under the protection of the Supreme Court ruling.


The Florida law about motor vehicles in another question. But that law, as all gun control laws, will have to be re-evaluated in light of the Supreme Court ruling. It may survive challenges, and it may not. Years of litigation are ahead.

[Disneyphile]

I'd like to find out from the guy exactly why he feels it's necessary to carry one around in the first place. I'd love to know what he's afraid of, or exactly why it's his "woobie" that he can't leave home without.

I wonder if he'd also complain that Disney won't allow tinfoil hats to be worn with costumes as well?

[Moonliner]

I'd like to find out from the guy exactly why he feels it's necessary to carry one around in the first place. I'd love to know what he's afraid of, or exactly why it's his "woobie" that he can't leave home without.

I wonder if he'd also complain that Disney won't allow tinfoil hats to be worn with costumes as well?

Who knows, perhaps he works two jobs and the other job requires it. The point is carrying a gun in the car is now legal and the law specifically states that an employer cannot violate the privacy rights of the individual (their words not mine) by making an inquiry about the presence of a gun in the vehicle. Which according to the story, Disney did.

[Tref]

I'd like to find out from the guy exactly why he feels it's necessary to carry one around in the first place.

Clearly, he want to keep the gun handy in case another employee or a guest hurts his feelings and he needs to retaliate, right?

I don't see anything wrong with that.

[Tref]

Who knows, perhaps he works two jobs and the other job requires it.

His other job is shooting people.

[scaeagles]

I wonder if he'd also complain that Disney won't allow tinfoil hats to be worn with costumes as well?

I suppose if the law specifically stated that tinfoil hats were to be permitted in any work uniform Disney would have to allow it.

I think this guy may have quite a lawsuit that is about to be filed. Know any lawyers that want to sue Disney for wrongful termination? Based on the wording of the law it seems pretty open and shut. But I'm not a lawyer and Disney has deep pockets.

[Moonliner]

His other job is shooting people.

Or perhaps guarding children at a day care center.

[Tref]

Or perhaps guarding children at a day care center.

You want somebody with a gun at a daycare center? Jeese, ML, you are hardcore!

[Moonliner]

You want somebody with a gun at a daycare center?

No I don't, although it is fairly common around here (lots 'o diplomat kids...)

The main issue is that I don't want private corporations deciding for themselves what the law is or is not. Do you?

[Ghoulish Delight]

The Supreme Court ruling allows me to have a firearm in my home. It does not allow anyone to have a firearm in my home. A robber cannot come into my home with a firearm under the protection of the Supreme Court ruling.


The Florida law about motor vehicles in another question. But that law, as all gun control laws, will have to be re-evaluated in light of the Supreme Court ruling. It may survive challenges, and it may not. Years of litigation are ahead.
All true, but until this law is challenged in the Supreme Court (whether state or federal) it is the law and seeing as it rather explicitly describes what this guy did as 100% legal, Disney will most assuredly lose all lower court rulings until it gets to the Supreme Court level.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I have once again been reminded that "can" does not equate with "should".

[Tref]

I have once again been reminded that "can" does not equate with "should".

Unless its "should" I eat a "can" of beans, then by all means do so.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I stand corrected. :)

[BarTopDancer]

Our TX office states that guns are not allowed on property. Gotta leave them at home, or park your car somewhere other than the building parking lot.

[innerSpaceman]

Yes, perhaps Disney should have simply revoked his employee parking privileges.


Disney has survived dozens if not hundreds of lawsuits unscathed or with a settlement that amounts to a hill of canned beans. If this were just about any other company, I'd say the ex-employee has a great lawsuit. But with Disney ... well I hope he enjoys his lifetime AP.

(And btw, he can keep that gun locked in the guest parking lot for free if that AP is Premium.)

[€uroMeinke]

I'm not allowed to bring firearms to the Nuke plant. In fact one of our reactor operators was fired when he brought his guns into the control room to clean during his lunch.

[CoasterMatt]

Maybe he had to deal with a lot of French guests?

I don't know about Disney, but in our company's policies, the company reserves the right to search the person or any bags they may have on park property. Failure to comply is grounds for discipline up to and including termination.

[innerSpaceman]

But could they fire you if you allowed them to find the gun in your locked car? And can you lock a gun in a car parked outside the Nuke plant?

These are vital constitutional issues of our time.

[€uroMeinke]

Not sure what the rule is on California State Beaches regarding firearms

[innerSpaceman]

Beer bottles, no.


Firearms, ok.






I think.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Some people just troll for trouble. My friend's brother is one of those. He brought his gun to the birthday party of a group of 4-year olds. And was offended when my friend's sister asked him to leave it in the car. Minnesota is a right-to-carry state.

As is Montana, but I don't recall having these kinds of problems there. Sure every house had guns, and half the cars and trucks displayed them in the back window, but these kinds of issues never came up.