As employers navigate the new laws regarding firearms, it is worth a reminder that, as with many issues, a person’s off-duty conduct is generally not an employer’s concern. This is true of a person’s status as a gun owner. As noted in the previous article, employers have certain rights to regulate firearms on its property. But employees have rights too.

Oklahoma has a law specifically prohibiting an employer from asking an applicant for employment “about whether the applicant owns or possesses a firearm.”

This only makes sense. In Oklahoma, residents have a legally protected right (with some exceptions) to own and possess firearms. Provided those persons do not violate an employer’s rules about bringing those firearms to work, if such rules exist, the employee’s status as a gun owner should be of no consequence to the employer.

Employers should be cognizant of what they can and cannot do and can and cannot ask in light of Oklahoma’s ever-evolving gun laws.

By Kristen L. Brightmire, kbrightmire@dsda.com