The NRA launched an aggressive boycott against U.S. refiner ConocoPhillips last week in response the company’s attempts to block an Oklahoma law that would force businesses to allow guns on their property by prohibiting them from banning guns in cars parked in company lots.

The Oklahoma state legislature passed the law after 12 employees were fired in 2002 from Weyerhauser Paper Mill for violating the company’s no-gun policy after guns were discovered in their cars during a drug sniffing sweep with dogs.

ConocoPhillips is among several companies including The Williams Companies and Halliburton, who have filed in a federal lawsuit challenging the Oklahoma law which was due to take effect next week. No action has been taken against the other companies.

The boycott centers on accusations that the lawsuit by ConocoPhillips is attacking the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"If you are a corporation that's anti-gun, anti-gun owner or anti-Second Amendment, we will spare no effort or expense to work against you, to protect the rights of your law-abiding employees. Their rights are worth more than your money,” said NRA Executive Vice President, Wayne La Pierre.

The NRA’s touting of the Second Amendment really just works to build support for the boycott; the argument doesn’t hold any water. The NRA has filed no suit claiming that Weyerhauser has violated the Second Amendment; nor will they. However you want to define the “right to keep and bear arms,” it only prevents the federal government from infringing on that right.

The Second Amendment does not prohibit states from implementing state assault weapons bans. It does not prohibit municipalities from enacting city ordinances that restrict handgun ownership. And it certainly doesn’t prohibit a business from implementing firearms policies for their workplace. There is no Second Amendment right to store your gun on someone else’s property.

In a statement to the public, ConocoPhillips said, "ConocoPhillips supports the Second Amendment and respects the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns. We are simply trying to provide a safe and secure working environment for our employees by keeping guns out of our facilities, including our company parking lots."

ConocoPhillips and the other companies involved in the suit are right to be concerned about guns in the workplace. Gun-related violence is one of the leading causes of workplace deaths. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that there were 632 workplace homicides in 2003 - accounting for over one-tenth of all workplace fatalities.

In addition, a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that workplaces that allow workers to carry firearms and other weapons at work were 5-7 times more likely to be the site of an on the job homicide compared to workplaces that prohibit workers from carrying weapons.

Companies such as ConocoPhillips have seen the risk that guns in the workplace present to their employees. It’s not that they’re anti-gun or that they hate Second Amendment – It’s that they’re pro-workplace safety.

IPGV urges our members and friends to make a point of buying your gas at Phillips 66 and Conoco stations to support their right to provide a safe workplace for their employees.