By Hao Nguyen, Esq.
Senior Product and Regulatory Counsel
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, New Hampshire becomes the 27th state to enact legislation that allows employees to store legally owned guns in their vehicles. On January 1, a new law took effect that shapes the ability for employees to carry firearms into their place of business (with some restrictions of course). There are a few nuances here, so bear with me as I try to code break the statutory language in the New Hampshire bill.
The law generally identifies two types of employers: (1) those employers who receive public funds from the state or federal government (including contractual agreements) and (2) all private employers. Let’s call the former “Group A” and the latter “Group B.” Arguably, you can say that all New Hampshire dealerships, as a collective, fall into Group B, while a smaller number of dealerships fall into both Group A and Group B. This is because Group A dealers sell vehicles to state and federal entities like police and fire departments, emergency medical response, the FBI, and the CIA. We’ll talk about both groups and see what businesses in each group can and cannot do. Note that those employers categorized into Group A must also fulfill the requirements of Group B (but not vice versa).
Group A: Employers who Receive Public Funds
These employers are prohibited from restricting employees from storing legally owned firearms and ammunition in their personal vehicles while the vehicle is in transit or parked on the employer’s property. The caveat: the vehicle must be locked and the firearm and ammunition must be stored out of sight. Additionally, if the employee is properly storing the firearm and ammunition, employers cannot take adverse action against the employee. What is interesting here is that there is nothing in the statute that references the firearm being in a locked container or separated from the ammunition.
Group B: All Private Employers
These employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to disclose whether or not they are storing a firearm or ammunition in their vehicles and no search can be made of the employee’s vehicle unless it is from law enforcement pursuing a search warrant (or an exemption to the warrant requirement applies).
Additionally, private employers are granted civil immunity from any damages that involve an employee’s firearms and ammunition as specified in the law.
A Word of Caution to Dealers
Immunity from civil liability does not mean that employers can skate free on any issues that may arise involving the use of their employee’s firearm. Keep in mind OSHA’s General Duty Clause, which states that employers have the duty to protect employees from incidents of workplace violence. As is often overlooked by those outside of the industry, dealers operate in an environment where there is a higher risk of workplace violence. (A quick Google search reveals many incidents this year alone, and just last week a customer drove his vehicle through the doors of a Mazda dealership in Utah).
What Hasn’t Changed?
All employers are still able to set boundaries regarding weapons in the workplace, such as banning firearms anywhere else on the employer’s property including the showroom, offices, service bays or other dealership grounds (other than in the employee’s personal vehicle while parked on site) and prohibiting employees from carrying or storing firearms in employer-owned or leased vehicles. If you would like to create a policy regarding firearms in the workplace for your dealership, please contact us at info@complyauto.com for more information.