Fairfax, Va. – Today, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed NRA-backed legislation allowing employees to store legally-owned firearms in locked, private motor vehicles while parked in employer parking lots.

“A citizen’s individual, constitutional right to self protection does not stop when they drive onto their employer’s property,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action. “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.”

HB 1065 prohibits employers from firing employees who safely and lawfully store a firearm in their privately owned, locked vehicle while on an employer’s publicly accessible parking lot. Indiana has more than a quarter-million Right-to-Carry permit holders, many of whom carry their firearm during their commute to and from work.

This law also prevents state or local government authorities from confiscating lawfully owned firearms during declared states of emergency, such as occurred in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

“This is a major victory for Indiana gun owners and workers who have been denied the right to protect themselves while commuting between their homes and their workplace,” concluded Cox. “On behalf of Indiana’s NRA members and gun owners, I’d like to thank Gov. Daniels for signing this important self-defense legislation into law.”

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Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.