Texas state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would allow workers to drive onto company property with guns in their vehicles.
The measure has won approval in the Texas Senate by a 30-to-1 vote and is pending before the Texas House. Schools would be exempt.
"We don't call it guns at work. We call it the commuter safety bill," said Alice Tripp, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association.
She noted that 13 states have enacted similar legislation.
The law would be at odds with the policies of some Texas employers.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas prohibits employees from coming to work with guns.
"This is applicable to all of our property, which would include the parking lot," said Margaret Jarvis, a senior manager for media and public relations.
She declined to offer an opinion about the proposed legislation.
Gun control advocates have cited concerns about gun violence in their opposition to similar laws.
"The workplace very often involves tension. ... I think allowing people to bring a handgun, or if they want, even an arsenal of firearms, can only have bad consequences," said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Nationwide from 1997 through 2009, there were 587 fatal workplace shootings where the assailant was a worker or a former worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Several employers said they had no policy on guns in employee vehicles.
The topic hasn't inspired widespread debate among businesses and companies, according to Mike McMahan, president of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, and Ronnie Kidd, president of the Big Country Society for Human Resource Management.
Tripp emphasized that the proposed legislation is not about walking into the workplace with a firearm.
"It's to allow you to have a personal safety option on your commute to and from the workplace," Tripp said.
Jaime Adame is a reporter for The Abilene Reporter-News in Texas
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