I've also never been asked if I carry at work or keep a weapon in my car. Neither is legal on company property.
A couple of years back I got a new bosses boss. You know what they say about first impressions, right? Well he struck me as someone trying too hard. Naturally there are some folks in every organization that are natural suck-ups. And then there are people like me
After being on the job for about a year we had occasion to have a "casual" conversation (helpful hint #466:
Nothing is casual in employer/employee relations) and the subject of guns came up. I had heard that he was a shooter and conspicous collector (likes to tell stories about owning guns that would cost me six months salary) so I wasn't surprised. And then he asked me if I owned any guns.
I just smiled and said, "I heard that guns were icky".
He was taken aback by that and didn't know what to make of it. But he quickly figured out that I wasn't going to answer his question. Why not? Because if you own firearms the assumption can be made that there is a better than even chance that you carry a firearm on you. If you carry and drive a company car... 2+2=owie time for the employee. I always carried - even though the company forbade it because my life is worth more than a job.
Then last year they took my company rig away from me as part of a cost saving scheme. Now I drive my own rig and make no bones about packing. Why? Because the state of Washington Supreme Court ruled that employers couldn't bar employees from carrying firearms in their private vehicles - even on company property.
I even offered to show my bosses boss my Saiga 12 with the 20-round drums (what - you don't carry one in your car?! Don't leave home without it!).
My takeaway from this thread isn't
if they can ask - or even
when they might ask - be how will you answer
when they do ask? I think the correct answer is that it depends on the circumstance, on who is asking, and on how tight do they have you by the short hairs.
