“State law allows Floridians with concealed-weapons permits to keep firearms locked in their cars at work, but Orlando’s big theme parks have claimed they don’t have to comply,” orlandosentinel.com reports. Florida’s theme parks have ginned up a variety of questionable theories to justify declaring even their parking lots as 2A-free zones. That’s how Dean Kumanchik found himself out of a job after a gun was stolen from his parked car at Universal Orlando in December. That’s also why Kumanchik filed suit against Universal for the dismissal. What makes Gunshine State theme parks so special? Under an imaginative interpretation . . .
Universal cites an exemption for school property as a justification for its ban. Orange County Public Schools runs an alternative program called the Universal Education Center on the property.
It’s the same kind of interpretive gymnastics other venues — some publicly owned – have tried to use in order to avoid compliance with local laws. Wally World, for instance, took a slightly different tack.
Walt Disney World has cited an exemption for property owned by an employer that has a permit for explosives such as fireworks. Both Disney and Universal prohibit visitors from having guns in their theme parks.
Anything is in bounds when the goal is denying people their right to keep and bear arms. Right? But Universal’s legal eagles apparently aren’t so sure that the shaky underpinnings for the parking lot ban would hold up in a jury trial. Kumanchik’s lawyer has announced that the ride technician has gotten his job back.
“It was a very good resolution for our client, and Universal took him back to work,” attorney Richard Celler said. …
Celler said he could not discuss any financial terms of the settlement reached with Universal. Celler said he does not think the theme park resort has changed its policies.
Asked whether Kumanchik is still bringing his gun to work, Celler said, “I didn’t ask and I don’t want to know.”
Always thought “Wally World” was slang for Wal-Mart….
I 2nd that.
“Wally World” was the destination theme park from the 1983 movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” The Disney correlation was fairly obvious.
I’m pretty sure the Wal*Mart nickname came later.
“I’m pretty sure the Wal*Mart nickname came later.”
Yes, it did, and the first time I heard it was from a WalMart employee…
The real world Wally World was Six Flags Magic Mountain near LA.
The arrest scene took place in front of The Revolution. I used to love that roller coaster as a kid.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation features them Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart, perhaps that is where the connection came from?
Stand by….cheaper to keep him, document minor infractions (perhaps false) and place him over the mortar tube when issues related to this die down.
When a company hires H1B’s, then forces employee to train their replacement, I’ll never set foot on Disneys’ property.
This
My kids hated Disney, thank God.
Crappy food, too many people who do not understand the concept of personal space, ridiculously long lines, and overpriced everything.
After a few hours the kids were ready to pack it in and head to the pool. We’ll never go back.
I loved Disneyland/World as a kid, gave me a headache by the end of the day though. I didn’t know there were kids that didn’t like Disney. And with the H1B visa, sometimes I literally say that I can’t understand their accent in phone calls.
I didn’t like Disney as a kid. My parents were more excited about it than I was…
My kids would rather spend the day at the park or playing in the pool, than walking around Disney, much the way I was as child. The Apple didn’t fall far from the tree for my spawn, I guess.
Disneyland was great when I was a kid. As an adult, I see them stop selling toy flintlocks in Frontiet Land. I see them at the vanguard of the militant homosexual movement. Tolerance is one thing. Being among the first to offer employees “domestic partner” benefits, though, is bad. Holding annual “Gay Day” at a formerly family-friendly theme park? No way. They not only don’t share my values, but are antithetical to them. I won’t do business with them.
I am going to defend the mouse here despite being a very conservative christian. Yes Disney does have a “Gay Day,” but guess what else they have – Night of Joy. That is where they shut down the Magic Kingdom park for 2 nights (Friday and Saturday) for contemporary christian music acts. Universal has a competing program called Rock the Universe where they do the same thing. As for “Gay Day”, in the past there was never any official day Disney actually scheduled in a given year like they had with Night of Joy (this may have changed recently). They would just accept it as a thing.
Gayday is an unofficial event not sanctioned by Disney. The Disney parks have all sorts of event days that Disney doesn’t sanction like Goth day, Hipster day, Dapper day, etc.
I grew up in Orlando In the seventies and eighties And I tell you I went to Disney World 3 times in my entire life And it was fun back in the late seventies early eighties and you’re a young person. But they have gotten so Politically Incorrect And so anti-gun It’s an absolutely amazing. My uncle was a real estate investor in the late fifties early sixties and was friends with Walt Disney. They used to go sport fishing for Marlin And all kinds of other Big game fish And Hunt together wear tomorrow land is right now. He was a big supporter Of the freedoms of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I never met the man But I remember hearing lots of stories told to me by my Uncle. The fun that you guys had going out Hunting together fishing together enjoying wildlife Mr. Walt Disney was very much into the outdoors And into Enjoying nature That’s why his theme parks are so beautifully decorated And the landscape is so magnificent That was all part of his plan. Now you have A publicly traded company with a bunch of bean counters running it That are simply looking at loss prevention. If we let gun owners carry concealed firearms and if somebody gets hurt we’re going to be sued And lose more money. Like they don’t friggin make enough as it is even with a Florida state ID it’s $100 for a freaking ticket. And don’t get me started on that raunchy overpriced food how about a giant turkey leg For $14 and this was in 1982 imagine what they cost now. I stay away from theme parks and even carnivals They’re just not my deal If I want to have fun there’s a lot of things that you can go out and do that don’t involve spending hundreds of dollars putting up with crowds of sweaty nasty smelling people Which hardly none of them speak English And waiting in a line For sometimes up to three hours and 100 degree heat with 98% relative humidity no freakin thanks!
no he will just be “randomly” selected for every drug screening and “safety check” until he eventually violates some rule (like no firearms in your pov) and is fired for violating company policy
More likely, they gave him a settlement and rehired him, with the agreement he will immediately resign. It allows everyone to save face.
Avoid these death traps, cause ZOMBIES!!!!! 🙂
This fireworks loophole needs to be closed. Maybe Disney will pitch a fit and threaten to leave the state. We can only hope.
I know a lot of people like Disney, but as far as I’m concerned they’re a primary agent responsible for ruining the state.
It must be Disney. It can’t possibly be the illegal Cuban immigrants or the insane drivers.
What do you think brought the insane drivers? It wasn’t the Cubans.
Or all the retired urban New Englanders swarming in and bringing their f*cked-up mentality with them…
You need to read the law regarding Cuban immigration, they aren’t illegal in fact they are very legal immigrants and tend to vote Republican. What you think they’re voting for Little Castro aka Obama, Clinton, and Sanders? They fled that crap to get away from idiots like them.
You don’t understand our Immegration law. there is no such thing as an Illegal Cuban Immigrant. Our policy is that if a Cuban puts 2 feet on american soil, they are accepted as a refugee. except if you a 6 year old little boy who’s mother died fleeing the country with you because your father was a Castro wannabe.
I thought we had all agreed it was the liberal retirees from New England who had ruined Florida?
All of the above and more.
My wife is from FL and I was stationed their for a few years… I’ll cast my vote for the snow birds ruining Fla-rah-da.
To quote Johnny Paycheck: “Take this job and shove it.”
I agree. I’ve never understood these lawsuits to get a job back you’ve been fired from. Financial settlement? Sure. Sue them to get stupid policies changed so nobody else gets fired over it? Absolutely. But once you’ve been fired and then sued the place, why in hell would you go back to work there? There’s no way that won’t be a toxic environment for you. You’ve almost certainly been tagged by management as a troublemaker, so any tiny slip-up is probably going to bring a mountain of shit down on you.
A second law suit cause the management harassed you for winning the first.
Maybe at a mom-and-pop establishment. But someplace like Universal has enough lawyers on staff to build a pretty high mountain to climb for that second lawsuit. It’s almost a certainty that his managers have all been briefed on exactly what sorts of things they can say or do to keep under the legal bar for a harassment claim but still make his workday unpleasant.
No doubt the Universial lawyers are worried about being sued if there’s an employee-owned gun incident. If the company supports employee’s bringing guns to work, I’m sure the lawyers are schooling management about liability cost from “encouraging” employees to carry guns at work. This is a legitimate concern for companies and, until states begin bringing liability laws into conformance with increased private-citizen carry options, they’re placed in a unique dilemma. This is definitely something that states need to work on.
Until this gets straightened out I think an expedient solution is for companies to “fire” employees who, say, defend themselves or their customers . . . and then quietly hire them back once the dust settles.
First they make him store his gun in an unsecured location, (His car in an apparently unmonitored parking lot) rather than have on his person or an in-park security office, then they fire him because someone stole it from said unsecured location.
Universal Orlando essentially handed a firearm to a criminal, and then blamed their employee.
GG, UO. FU.
This is what chaffs my bunions. The antis complain that guns fall from lawful hands into those of criminals but then will take any opportunity to force people to keep their guns in their car instead of carrying them. Thefts from vehicles is a huge way that bad guys get firearms.
To the anti’s that a feature, not a bug.
They HAVE to have the pipeline of guns into the hands of criminals just like they have to have the revolving door to keep the criminals on the street.
The combo is their pet bogeyman, and they will pull all kinds of gyrations to keep that bogeyman alive and well.
You ought to see the joke of a parking lot that they make the universal employee parking. I had a girlfriend 15 years ago that worked there at one of the restaurants And she needed me to pick her up from work one night while her car was in the shop And she told me where to go to pick her up in the employee parking lot. I pull into about a two-and-a-half 3 Acre parking lot Lit by sporadic HPS lights Completely empty Of life other than about 25 Universal buses Sitting idling with the drivers behind the wheel Basically sleeping waiting until their next transit. You could be literally slaughtered in that parking lot and no one would know until sunrise. There is no security at Universal Studios whatsoever it is a friggin joke. They have at night bars that you can go to And drink and carry on with your friends, But as soon as you leave The nightclub or bar that you’re at you’re on your own buddy. There is no such thing as security at Universal Studios It’s a joke It’s the softest Target I’ve ever been to You have a bunch of drunken young people Walking back to their cars In a desolate parking lot area That is Poorly lit to say the least The lightpost are some 50 feet in the air so that the buses don’t hit on them And Causes the light to be sporadic at best.Or you can use the parking garage And that I have never seen a security person not even a security guard or an employee picking up trash in there especially in the early morning hours when you’re leaving the night clubs. They rely primarily on the Orlando Police Department for their Security And Patrols Which are sparse at best.
I can’t speak for the employee parking, I was at universal just a few weeks ago, and they stepped up their security a lot. They have metal detectors just to get to the city walk. I saw more security (unarmed of course) than I expected, and they actually checked bags not just looked for food and drink.
Still not exactly my choice place to be, but I didn’t have to worry about if someone seeing my ccw or my mags falling out of my pocket cause I wasn’t giving a choice to being them! Haha
just letting you know about the updates.
7 years ago a drunk attacked me in the lobby of their fancy Royal Pacific Hotel. Had to fend him off be myself, lucky he was a little guy but he was psycho, no security around to help and took the Orlando cops 3 hours to show up! Of course the drunk was long gone by then.
Disney used to have a gun check in with in park security. but they have since did away with that.
I used it when I went there to see Star Wars.
In hindsight I would have been better off locking it in my car.
The Texas Attorney General’s office recently ruled in favor of the Dallas Zoo banning both concealed carry and open carry.
“Paxton’s office said in a letter dated Wednesday that the zoo qualifies as an amusement park. That’s an area where state law says the licensed carrying of handguns can be prohibited, so long as the proper notice is given.”
“The zoo has been at the forefront of the debate over the new gun law, authored by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. The measure toughened a 2003 law that said gun license holders can carry at most property “owned or leased by a governmental entity.”
Exceptions to that rule can include schools, courthouses and notably, in this case, amusement parks.”
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2016/04/texas-ags-office-upholds-legality-of-dallas-zoos-gun-ban.html/
I always thought zoo’s prided themselves as being educational institutions
What do you want to bet some palms were greased on that one…
I love how The government can come up with all these ways To deny the populace of their constitutional rights. But yet There’s never a law passed that makes these so-called amusement parksSet a standard for security. You never see armed security at any of these amusement parks unless it’s the local police doing the security Like the universal case. It’s just a big joke Get in there get your money and then the hoodlums get your money on your way to your car And your car and maybe your life.
Disney has armed local LEOs.
Dorney Park in PA has armed private security. Supposedly the parent company, Cedar Fair isn’t pleased by it, but the guards fight corporate hard to keep their sidearms. They also have state trooper training too.
Over in NJ, Six Flag Great Adventure’s security are dressed like crossing guards and only have trash pickers, I feel sorry for them.
We need to start adding teeth to these laws. If a business flagrantly and intentionally denies a person their 2nd amendment right as a matter of policy, whomever created that policy needs to spend time in the slammer.
Big amen, maybe some time in the big house will make them rethink the policy.
The only true way to get these Amusement theme parks to change their ways Is to do the following. 1 boycott all of the parks do not go to these BullshitCivil rights violating Amusement theme parks. Stop spending your hard-earned money on their toys their movies And anything else they’re involved with. Once they start to feel the sting of the burn of pain of not making millions of dollars every year They will change their mind And the regulations so fast it’ll make your head spin.
In Florida, a company can terminate your employment for just about any reason. And they do not have to give you a reason at all. They can call you up and say, “Goodbye you no longer work here.” However, the law does in fact protect employees from being fired for having firearms locked in their cars. it is one of the few cases for which you cannot be terminated.
I used to carry a pistol into Disney World. It was a hassle because I had to check my bag. I stopped when I did the research and found that there really is effectively NO violent crime at Disney. So I don’t bother bringing a gun to FL anymore when I’m primarily going to the big Dis. Its all about risk and reward. There is very little risk. I’ve also since discovered that I can usually borrow a handgun when I’m in FL.
The occasional drunken fight, but serious crime there is pretty much nonexistent. Security response is fast and there’s cameras everyfreakingwhere.
Gives me the twitchies regardless, since it would still be a damn soft target for a serious attack.