Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls, brought his legislation promoting employees storing guns in their cars at work to the Senate State Affairs Committee, where it barely passed on a 4-3 vote. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, spoke out in favor of the bill, saying it actually does very little, merely providing legal immunity covering only lawful gun storage to employers who have policies allowing or not forbidding such gun storage in their company parking lots. The Idaho Trial Lawyers Association testified against the bill, however, saying it's poorly worded, doesn't match Idaho Code, raises questions about its meaning and appears to create liability for employers with other policies. "What we have in our state are private property rights," lobbyist Barbara Jordan told the committee. "The employer has the right to dictate the policy on their property." If employers are to be given legal immunity, she said, it should be "across the board," regardless of their policies.

Davis proposed an amendment along those lines, but Thompson said he preferred his wording. "This legislation was based off 18 other states having similar legislation," he said. "We were trying to give them an incentive to change their policy to where it's more conducive for employees to store their firearms in their personal vehicles." Davis then joined the majority to pass the bill to the full Senate, 4-3. Thompson pitched the bill in the House saying that Cabela's, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard now have policies prohibiting employees from having guns in their cars at work. However, the Associated Press reported today that Cabela's says it has no such policy.

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