imported post
Statkowski wrote:
IN OTHER WORDS, CAN A BUSINESS OWNER MANDATE CONCEALEMENT AS A CONDIDITON OF ALLOWING FIREARMS TO BE CARRIED? The question was raised by a very knowledgeable individual in law enforcement and poses a rather unique area for discussion.
Since the bearing of arms is a constitutionally-guaranteed right, can a business owner mandate concealment as a condition of allowing a cross or Star of David to be worn around one's neck, since freedom of religion is another constitutionally-guaranteed right?
A State or Federal Constitution expresses the duties, powers, and limitations of a Government. It does not guarantee one's rights in the "real world." Laws enacted by those Governments can, and do, apply to the people.
"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
We have no right to use another's private property without their express or implied permission. Their permission may be granted on a discretionary basis. Fundamentally, one needs not have or give any reason to eject you from their property. They are only limited if there is a Federal or State law against it.
This page at LegalZoom is a good read, though does not cite all of its sources. The California Unrah Civil Rights Act is much more broad, in who it protects, than the Federal Civil Rights Act.
The
United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides for injunctive relief from discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin in places of accommodation which affect interstate commerce or which is supported by State action.[1] Reconstruction-era civil rights laws regarding private persons and organizations were held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the
Civil Rights Cases of 1883; Congress did not have that power under the
14th amendment. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 used Congress' power under the Interstate Commerce Clause and was upheld by the Supreme Court in
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States.
As far as the Star of David goes, the answer to your question depends on whether the establishment fits the definition in
42 USC 2000a(c); or if there is an applicable State law that would prohibit such a requirement. Simply concealing the Star of David wouldn't be good enough for a true bigot, though.
As for people who OC, they are not protected by Federal Civil Rights law; but I wonder if California's Civil Rights Act would protect those who wear firearms. Does Connecticut have a Civil Rights Act, too?
Discrimination against people who openly carry firearms is bigotry, in my opinion. Still, I can almost sympathize with an owner who would watch 5 customers leave if he allows one OC'er. I leave you with another Holmes quote:
"The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye: the more light you shine on it, the more it will contract."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
edit: About California's law protecting those wearing a firearm, I suppose it wouldn't since it's been ruled in Ca. that a business could lawfully require that gang or club members remove their "colors."