There has been a lot of ink spilled in the Boise media (and elsewhere) about whether Cabelas bans it's employees from carrying guns or not. This came up because Rep. Jeff Thompson who carried H287 (immunity for employers who allow parking lot gun storage) mentioned three companies during debate on the floor of the House Monday. Cabela's was one of them. An AP reporter finally got a response from a spokesman for Cabelas on Thursday denying that they banned employee guns in their parking lots.
Where did this story come from? NRA sent out an email to the membership in Idaho. Last I heard they had 38 distinct response. (that is 38 seperate companies that restrict employees rights). This is from ONE email sent out to members who have registered their email addresses with NRA to receive alerts etc. I didn't even get this email.
As I understand it, one of the responses was from a Cabelas employee in Idaho who quoted from an employee manual. I know it makes a nice sound bite (ink bite?) for a reporter to catch a Representative flat footed for relying on something he was told by a lobbyist but wouldn't it be a little more, I don't know, professional, to dig a little deeper and see if you could take a look at a current Cabelas employee handbook rather than rely on an email from a company spokesman?
Senator Kate Kelly was also quoted in the piece linked to above:
“I realize this is important to some people,” Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, told at a Senate hearing Thursday where Thompson’s measure was cleared for floor debate. “But I’m questioning whether the people’s business and the money we spend needs to be spent year after year (on gun bills). I just hope we don’t have to do this again next year.”
I don't know how we're going to break it to Kate...