- America Online has been known to gun owners for some
time for their support of anti-gun organizations and policies. They've
donated large sums of money to liberal, anti-gun Democrat organizations
to support people like Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy.
-
- More recently, they've canceled accounts for firearms
related web sites on the grounds that such material is no different from
"pornography". Never mind that guns are entirely legal items
owned by tens of millions of Americans. Never mind that AOL doesn't seem
to think that disgustingly offensive rock music is a problem.
-
- Now, in another step towards the final elimination of
gun owners from "civilized society", AOL has fired three exemplary
workers for having firearms in their cars in order to go shooting at a
range on their own time!
-
- The three employees are Luke Hansen, Jason Melling and
Paul Carlson. All three worked as "partner technical consultants"
at AOL's Ogden, Utah facility, doing higher level technical support. The
Ogden facility employs about 850 people, according to AOL's web site, and
"handles a range of technical, billing, third-party and sales calls".
According to Mr. Hansen, they had worked at AOL for two to four years,
and all had good employee records and good reviews from their supervisors.
Unfortunately (at least from AOL's point of view), the three young men
also enjoy shooting.
-
- On September 14, 2000, Luke, Jason and Paul met after
work in the AOL parking lot to go shooting at the gun range near Eden,
Utah. In order to carpool to the range, Jason and Paul transferred their
firearms from their own cars to Luke's truck, a matter of carrying them
a few yards. Jason transferred a .30-06 hunting rifle and a 9mm Smith &
Wesson handgun. Both firearms were unloaded and in cases. Paul transferred
a .45 long Colt "cowboy style" pistol and a 7.63 X .39 KBI. The
Colt was in a holster, and both firearms were unloaded. The handguns had
trigger locks in place. Luke's firearms were in his truck and he never
touched Jason or Paul's firearms. At no time did they brandish or handle
the firearms in a threatening or unsafe manner. Luke and Paul hold valid
Utah concealed weapons permits, and Jason is in the process of obtaining
one, so all three are familiar with safe handling and Utah laws.
-
- Although all three of them worked during the subsequent
three days, nothing about the firearms was mentioned. However, on Monday,
Sept. 18, all three were fired for "violating AOL's employee policy"
which states that firearms are forbidden on company property, including
the parking lot. According to Luke, although no one complained, an overzealous
security guard saw the firearms on a video surveillance tape and reported
the alleged violations.
-
- AOL does have its firearms policy posted inside the front
and back doors of the building, stating that firearms are not permitted
in the building or in the parking lot, and all three employees were aware
of this policy. However, they were also aware that AOL's policy violates
Utah state law. AOL states that it is a "secure facility", although
under Utah law secure facilities can be designated only by the legislature,
and include places such as courts, airports, mental health facilities,
and prisons. By definition, a place open to the public cannot be a "secure
facility", and AOL's parking lot is open to the public. (Actually,
it's a group of marked stalls in a public parking lot.) In addition, a
secure facility is required to provide locked safe storage for anyone lawfully
carrying a firearm, and accept responsibility for stored firearms, something
that AOL clearly was not equipped to do.
-
- On a previous occasion about two months ago, the three
men had also transferred firearms after work, and had been reported to
management. At that time, Luke Hansen met with AOL's General Manager, Sarah
McElwee. At that time, he explained to Ms. McElwee that while AOL might
be able to restrict firearms in the building, it could not restrict firearms
in a public parking lot, and that AOL did not meet the criteria for a "secure
facility". Mr. Hansen says he thought the matter was resolved at the
time, although no written changes were made to AOL's policy. Ironically,
Ms. McElwee's husband is known for the very fine firearms he makes!
-
- As a result of the firing, Paul is still looking for
work. Jason, who has a wife and just bought a new home, has found a new
job. So has Luke, who is expecting his first child in February.
-
- It appears that AOL management, and especially Ric Waiters,
the AOL manager who fired the three, want to force the issue of illegal,
politically correct, gun bans. Fortunately for gun owners everywhere, Luke
Hansen, Jason Melling and Paul Carlson are not going to take this lying
down! They're not willing to see their rights, or the rights of any other
Utah gun owners destroyed by America Online. So they've decided to take
on America Online, the 800 lb gorilla of anti-gun corporations.
-
- As Luke wrote in a recent email: "If AOL is allowed
to continue with illegal company policies like this, then ALL companies
in Utah can adopt similar policies. Your employer can whittle away at your
gun rights, and get away with it. The 3 of us have chosen to take a stand,
because this is something that we feel very deeply about. We believe that
this is truly an issue that affects ALL Utah gun owners and ALL Utah CCW
carriers. These aren't just our rights that were violated, they are your
rights too."
-
- The real issue here is whether gun owners are going to
be demonized and excluded from participation in ordinary life, whether
we're going to become the last persecuted minority. Remember that most
Americans in the "old South" didn't assault African-Americans;
they simply told them they couldn't work in "white" businesses,
attend "white" schools and churches, eat in "white restaurants"
or live in "white" neighborhoods. Likewise, the Nazis first told
Jews that they couldn't work in German businesses, attend German schools,
or otherwise participate in German society. Once the Jews had been isolated,
so that ordinary Germans no longer interacted with them, it was much easier
for the Nazis to convince people that Jews were an "inferior race"
and a "public health menace"Ö and that they should be murdered
for "the public good".
-
- If we allow ourselves to be isolated and demonized in
the minds of our fellow Americans, then we too will one day find ourselves
forbidden to interact with non gun owners. We too will find ourselves unable
to find work, to send our children to school, to attend the religious services
of our choice, or to eat in restaurants, shop in stores, or attend movies
and sporting events. (In addition to this AOL case, there is a ballot initiative
circulating to prohibit gun owners from entering schools and religious
facilities in Utah.) Eventually we will find ourselves rounded up into
concentration camps or stalked by "public servants" seeking to
imprison or kill us.
-
- So it's critically important that we resist each and
every attempt to isolate and persecute gun owners NOW ñ before it's
too late!
-
- Last week, Hansen, Carlson and Melling filed suit against
AOL for wrongful termination. They are being represented by James "Mitch"
Vilos, a local attorney, firearms dealer, and author of the book Utah Gun
Law: Good, Bad and Ugly, available at www.firearmslaw.com. Mitch is also
the founder of the Utah Gun Owners Legal Defense (U-GOLD) fund.
-
- AOL has so far refused to comment. Mace Molen, the Director
of Human Resources has a message on his phone saying he's "on vacation"
until November 3.
-
- Mr. Vilos believes the three have an excellent chance
of winning their lawsuit. Like many freedom-loving states, Utah is a "right
to work" or "at will" state, meaning that an employee can
be fired at any time. However, Mr. Vilos points out that an employee may
NOT be fired if doing so violates public policy. For example an employer
may not fire an employee for being Catholic or Asian, because that would
violate state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
-
- How does this apply to the AOL case? According to Mr.
Vilos, public policy is determined by the state constitution and state
statutes.
-
- The Utah Constitution clearly states, in Article I, Section
6: "The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for security
and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well as
for other lawful purposes shall not be infringed; but nothing herein shall
prevent the Legislature from defining the lawful use of arms." Clearly,
Utahns have an indisputable individual right to keep and bear arms.
-
- As noted above, AOL is violating Utah law by declaring
its parking lot and building to be a secure facility, since the parking
lot is open to the public and AOL does not provide the mandated safe storage.
-
- It is not entirely clear whether or not an employer can
restrict firearms in the workplace if the workplace is not open to the
public, because Utah statute does not specifically address this issue.
However, since a special statute was passed to permit churches to restrict
firearms, it would seem that in the absence of such a statute applying
to employers, they may not do so. And the Office of Legislative General
counsel previously ruled that Governor Leavitt's ban on firearms for state
employees was illegal (although Leavitt still refuses to stop the ban,
and our ultra-liberal attorney general isn't interested).
-
- Public policy in Utah supports the individual possession
of firearms, as well as the right to carry firearms for lawful purposes
including self-defense, hunting and target shooting. It therefore stands
to reason that public policy would support three men who go to a range
for the purpose of maintaining and improving their firearms skills. And
because Utah has problems with traffic congestion and pollution, public
policy supports the use of carpooling. Thus it seems that public policy
supports the right of lawful gun owners to keep unloaded firearms in their
cars and to carpool in order to use a shooting range on their own time.
And as a matter of public policy, employers generally are not permitted
to regulate their employees' legal activities outside of work hours.
-
- Therefore, Luke Hansen, Paul Carlson and Jason Melling
are suing AOL for wrongful termination in violation of public policy and
asking for declaratory relief. They are also asking for a jury trial, so
their case can be judged by ordinary Utahns. And they're asking for reimbursement
of attorney's fees since this is a matter of clarifying public policy.
-
- By taking such a principled and courageous stand, these
three men and their attorney are fighting for the rights of all gun owners
against a virulent and well-funded anti-gun behemoth. They deserve the
thanks and support of all gun owners.
-
-
- What can YOU do?
-
- 1. Lawsuits take money! Although a formal legal defense
fund for this case has not yet been started, Mr. Vilos says that funds
can be sent to U-GOLD. Please include a note saying that you would like
your donation to go to the AOL case. Donations are NOT tax-deductible.
-
- U-GOLD 8773 S. 450 East Sandy, UT 84070
-
- 2. Contact the AOL call center in Ogden, Utah.
-
- Mace Molen Director of Human Resources 801-622-7977 macemolen@aol.com
2261 Grant Ave. Ogden, UT 84401
-
- All parties involved ask that you please BE POLITE when
contacting Mr. Molen. Your goal is to explain why AOL's actions are wrong,
or why you will no longer do business with AOL, but NOT to personally attack
anyone!
-
- 3. Contact AOL member support ñ especially if
you are an AOL subscriber. 1-800-827-6364. See above message about being
POLITE! Remember that the AOL employees you talk to are just ordinary people
with a job ñ not very different from Luke, Jason and Paul. You want
them to understand that three of their fellow employees were treated illegally
and unfairly and that the same thing could happen to them!
-
- 4. Tell your friends and relatives about AOL's persecution
of gun owners and ask them to complain to AOL. You might even want to send
them the "Amerika Online" e-postcard.
-
- Should you cancel your account with AOL? When I asked
Luke Hansen, he said, "I'll thank people who cancel their accounts,
but I can't ask them to do so. It's an individual decision."
-
-
- This month AOL announced that they have reached 25 million
members. But there are at least 80 million gun owners in the United States,
a ratio of better than 3:1! AOL is huge and wealthy and powerful, but they're
not invulnerable! If gun owners take a stand, we can win!
-
-
- For those of you who wish to keep supporting AOL, consider
donating an amount equal to your monthly AOL fee to a pro-gun organization!
-
- For those of you who do choose to switch internet service
providers, remember that most large telecommunications companies (AT&T,
Sprint, etc.) are just as anti-gun as AOL. Check with local providers,
or check out KeepAndBearArms.com's new internet service.
-
- Let's teach AOL that persecuting gun owners is illegal,
un-American and won't be tolerated!
-
-
- ©2000, Sarah Thompson, M.D.
-
- Dr. Thompson is the Executive Director of Utah Gun Owners
Alliance, www.utgoa.org. She also writes The Righter, www.therighter.com.
She can be reached at Director@utgoa.org.
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