AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A bill forcing Texas companies to allow employees to keep guns in their locked cars is one step close to becoming law.
The state House approved the final version of the measure Thursday 130-11. Final Senate approval is still pending. It allows employees to keep any gun they are legally allowed to possess in their vehicles, even at work.
Under current law, employers may ban workers from bringing guns onto company property.
But the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt of Giddings, said many companies don’t understand the sporting culture in Texas. He called it the “parking lot-only bill.”
Critics questioned why the state should be allowed to tell companies whether to allow guns on their property. The bill makes employers immune from liability involving the firearms.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)