Guns in the Parks

Confronted by what they termed a "weird-acting" white-tailed deer, two women hiking along the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park fired off a round from a .357 handgun to scare off the animal.

A concerted effort in Maine to draw the line on national park visitors arming themselves has fallen short of the original goal. But the measure Gov. John Baldacci signed this week will at least outlaw open carry in Acadia National Park.

A controversial rule change concerning firearms in national parks takes effect February 22, a change likely to cause confusion and raise concerns over personal safety, but one also that could go largely unnoticed and give some a measure of personal security.

Don't go armed into a national park or wildlife refuge this weekend. New gun regulations for those federal properties won't take effect for nine months.

Thanks to a brilliant tactical move, gun rights advocates are a step closer to arming themselves in national parks and national wildlife refuges across the country following a U.S. House of Representatives' vote on a credit card bill.

President Obama stated his support for the 2nd Amendment during the presidential campaign. But how does he stand on allowing national park visitors to arm themselves? A coalition of groups has asked the president to stop a Senate effort to open national parks to a variety of weapons, from pistols to semi-automatics.

The U.S. Senate, which struggles mightily with topics such as health care, education, and a balanced budget, had no troubles Tuesday amending a credit card bill of all things with a measure to allow concealed weapons to be toted about national parks and wildlife refuges.

Perhaps recognizing the writing on the wall, the Interior Department has decided to conduct an environmental impact statement on a rule change that would allow national park visitors to arm themselves.

Less than two weeks after he lamented items he viewed as frivolous in the massive public lands bill that would designate official wilderness and launch three new units of the National Park System, a Utah Republican believes the bill should carry an amendment allowing concealed carry in national parks.