Right or Right?

If you've ever doubted that Canada is different from its neighbour to the south, perhaps a law enacted in Florida this week will convince you.

On April 15th, Governor Charlie Crist signed the Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008. The law allows employees and customers with permits to carry concealed weapons to store firearms in their vehicles while locked on company property. The law forbids most business holders from restricting concealed-permit holders from storing guns in their parked vehicles even if the parking area is accessible to the general public. Certain employers (including schools, nuclear power plants, and prisons) are exempt from the law.

Even though Florida is now the sixth US state* to enact such legislation, it did not have an easy time getting passed. The business community and the National Rifle Association scrapped it out for years before the bill action became law.

Interestingly enough, the legal challenge is likely to be on constitutional grounds since it is an infringement on the private property rights of business owners as enshrined in both the United States and Florida constitutions. That should be an interesting match up: private property rights versus the right to bear arms.

* In case you are wondering, the other five states are Alaska, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. The Oklahoma law is currently in the appeal process in the US Court of Appeals.