Questions remain after first day of new gun law

Companies still are attempting to figure out their policies after a new state law took allowing workers to store guns and ammunition in their vehicles while at work took effect Thursday.

Some employees who contacted The Times on Wednesday were worried about possible vehicle searches at ArcelorMittal plants. But outside the gates of the east side of the Indiana Harbor complex early Thursday morning, the only activity seen was cars whizzing by to enter company property.

Tom Hargrove, president of United Steelworkers Local 1010, said he's urging his members follow the ArcelorMittal's prescribed rules against having guns or ammunition on company property, lest they risk becoming a test case for the new law.

An ArcelorMittal official in a memo to employees Monday said employees who bring a weapon on company property could face discipline. The company said a federal law allow its to pre-empt the new state law.

"I believe guns have no place in the workplace," said Hargrove, who also is a staunch critic of the election-year measure state legislators approved in March.

National Rifle Association spokeswoman Rachel Parsons said Indiana is the 13th state to have a "right-to-carry" law related to guns being allowed in workplace parking lots.

Parsons said she was made aware of what ArcelorMittal said, but she said the burden of proof is on the company to say which federal law would supercede state law. Similar laws in Oklahoma and Florida have stood up to legal challenges, she said.

"A citizen's individual, constitutional right to self-protection does not stop when they drive onto their employer's property," said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, in a March 18 statement. "This common-sense effort has been a top legislative priority for the NRA, because it is good public policy for the more than 300,000 law-abiding permit holders in Indiana."

A person familiar with security matters at U.S. Steel Corp. said the steelmaker has had a policy for years not allowing guns to be on company property and, despite the new state law, the company is continuing to tell employees they are prohibited from having guns or ammunition at sites in Gary, East Chicago and Portage.

However, a U.S. Steel spokeswoman said the company doesn't publicly discuss plant security policies or related matters.

The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority also is dealing with the tricky issues surrounding the new law.

The airport authority voted 7-0 to approve a policy that forbids firearms or ammunition anywhere within the secure perimeter-fenced portion of airport property without the express permission of the airport director. The only people who can carry a gun without the director's permission are on-duty police or military personnel.

The policy directs airport staff to call Gary police anytime they find or suspect a person has brought an unauthorized gun or ammunition within the secure area.

The airport director can ban any person found to be carrying an unauthorized firearm or ammunition within the secure area from the airport. In the case of someone with an airport badge permitting admission on a regular basis, the badge can be revoked.

Airport attorney Patrick Lyp admitted the situation at the airport can be more complicated than it at first appears. Employers like Boeing Corp. and Whiteco Industries have hangars and flight facilities with operations within the secure portion of the airfield.

Times staff writer Keith Benman and photographer Natalie Battaglia contributed to this report.