Oregon town, cities in at least six other states allow city workers to carry guns

City employees in the small northeastern Oregon city of Milton-Freewater can now pack heat. City council members on Monday voted to amend the employee handbook to allow employees to carry guns, Sheila Hagar reports for the Union-Bulletin in Walla Walla, Wash., across the Columbia River.

Gun holders will be required to pass background checks and sheriff's reviews, and weapons won't be allowed in courtrooms, or in the homes or businesses of owners who don't want firearms on their property. City Manager Linda Hall told Hagar, "I’ve had questions asked me from people on the street, that employees will be packing shotguns and pistols on their hips. It’s nothing that dramatic. We’re talking in order to qualify, they would need concealed-weapon permits.”

Hagar reports the issue began when public-works employee Shave Wright asked his supervisor about carrying a concealed weapon at work. Wright told Hagar, "It’s like a seat belt. You put it on every day and hope it saves your life the day you have a wreck. And when that happens, you are so glad the seat belt was there. I don’t want people thinking we’re the wild, wild West around here; (a firearm) is just a tool for something you hope never happens." (Read more)

Hagar was inspired to write a follow-up story examining if other towns had adopted similar measures. She found similar laws had been passed in towns or counties in North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, and Kansas, and according to a report by the nationwide law firm Cozen O’Conner, 27 states and the District of Columbia "have no laws in place governing firearms in the workplace." (Read more)