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Traveler's View: Concealed Weapons Have No Place In Our National Park System

Jun 1st - 20:47pm | Bill Wade

Rick - you say, "I'll say this until you are blue in the face: give me one example of a citizen with a concealed carry permit who has committed a violent crime in your sacred national park system - or any place in our country." I say, give me one example of a citizen with a concealed carry permit who has averted a violent crime in our sacred national park system...

Jun 1st - 07:29am | jr_ranger

I always find it ironic that pro-gun people say the gun control crowd has been duped/misled/confused of the truth by the Brady Campaign, when the pro-gun people have been 'duped' just as much by the NRA....

May 30th - 08:16am | Rick

Rick Smith snipes stereotypically > Needless to say, NPT will lose a few NRA member readers whose single-minded emphasis on carrying weapons into almost any place in our country > is not only tiresome, but also dangerous.

May 29th - 13:40pm | Fred Miller

I am an NRA member. I read the NPT daily. I've been concerned and commented about ORV use, SAR costs, wolf de-listing, and many other issues discussed here. I care about the Parks. I just happen to also have very strong feelings about being able to defend myself when there is no other means of protection available to me.

May 29th - 12:13pm | JoeSF

"Joking aside, Mr. Secretary, there simply is no need to change the current gun regulations for our national parks. The National Park System is not crime-ridden. Far and away, the majority of the hundreds of millions of visitors who entered some unit of the National Park System last year did not place their lives in danger from other park visitors nor from wild animals when they did so.

May 29th - 11:40am | Rick Smith

Kurt--

Congressman Accuses Sec. Kempthorne of Pandering to NRA on Gun Issue

Jun 1st - 16:19pm | Art

Kurt, The statistics used by the Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors Association are drawn directly from the Texas Department of Public Safety Concealed Handgun Licensing Section and put into the proper context as measured against the age appropriate population of Texas. The instructors are DPS qualified and work closely with the Texas DPS.

Jun 1st - 16:11pm | Rick

Blair just doesn't get it: > the point is, why would one need to carry a handgun in a National Park?

Jun 1st - 16:03pm | Kurt Repanshek

Rick,

Jun 1st - 15:38pm | Blair C.

Houston, Texas last year. Man trying to stop a robbery in the house next door shot and killed both thieves in the back with no warning to the second one, despite the fact he was told to take no action by the 911 operator he was on the phone with. Need any more examples?

Jun 1st - 15:32pm | Blair C.

The point you are missing is "concealed handguns," not just any kind of weapon. Hunters (and poachers) don't hunt with handguns, and murderers generally don't kill with rifles (although there have been some notable exceptions). Believe me, a handgun will have little affect on either a charging bear or, if in Yellowstone, a bison.

Jun 1st - 15:05pm | Rick

Kur says, > You keep glossing over the fact that CCW permit holders who comment on this forum have already said they've packed in the parks, against the law > That's criminal.

Jun 1st - 09:21am | Rick Smith

If there is a bigger whacko than Jerry Patterson, I don't know who it is. Rick Smith

May 31st - 23:07pm | Fred Miller

Sorry Lone Hiker. I hate to let you down but I read this piece online the other day and felt compelled to confess. It's one thing to make a decision, and another thing altogether to carry it out. I honestly do hope that the proposed rule change goes through. Otherwise I will be a lawbreaker the next time I visit a Park in a CCW permitted state (the only kind I will visit).

May 31st - 21:52pm | Lone Hiker

Aw, Fred!!! After I was decent enough to throw accolades your direction for being honest enough to fess up to the criminal activity that you openly professed, you go and do the proverbial 180 on us!

May 31st - 19:40pm | Kurt Repanshek

OK, I'll try to ignore the fact that you have to start your argument with an insult.

May 31st - 18:36pm | Art

"Congressman Raul Grijalva, who heads the House subcommittee on national parks, is accusing Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne of pandering to the National Rifle Association."

May 31st - 17:59pm | Art

Kurt,

May 31st - 17:21pm | Fred Miller

Confession time: Although I have said that I've carried in a Park, I actually have not. But I have made the deliberate decision that I WOULD carry the next time I visited a Park. Sorta the same thing, I guess. That's why I feel so strongly about changing these rules. Consciously disobeying the law is morally objectionable to me in many ways.

May 31st - 15:01pm | Kurt Repanshek

Rick, You keep glossing over the fact that CCW permit holders who comment on this forum have already said they've packed in the parks, against the law. That's criminal. Also, did you overlook this comment I made earlier under another post:

May 31st - 14:08pm | Rick

the anti-gun crowd continues the basic concepts here. We're talking about eliminating the unconstitutional prohibition of a citizen's right to self defense. Regulation 36CFR 2.4 will be amended to assimilate state CONCEALED CARRY laws. Everything else remains status quo.

May 31st - 13:35pm | Fred Miller

This would take an incredibly good lawyer. How would counsel prove to the court that my UN-fired 9mm pistol had been used to poach a full-grown elk ?? When I visit the Parks, no one, including you, or the animals, or the foreign tourists, are going to know that I am carrying a concealed handgun. How on earth is that going to affect their experience?

May 31st - 12:01pm | Anonymous

To Tom Smith: because right now if a park ranger finds evidence of poaching on wildlife, in parks where hunting is illegal, a loaded weapon, carried illegally, is significant evidence.

May 30th - 11:23am | Kurt Repanshek

Joel, Sorry, I don't see the hypocrisy. Alcohol by itself cannot kill an innocent bystander in a crowd. But really, I think you'd have to agree that wild statements are being made on both sides of this issue. This was in the New York Times today:

May 30th - 10:43am | Joel

It sounds like the Congressman has a problem with alcohol. Maybe we should start with banning that too. We should make the world as benign as possible right? Let's look at his quote again:

May 30th - 09:48am | Tom Smith

Why the concern about citizens that have been issued a "Right to Carry Permit? They are US citizens that have been subjected to a background search that has shown them responsible citizens. The hidden gun in the crowd most likely already exists. The criminal is the problem not the licensed gun owner.

May 30th - 00:52am | Joesf

Kurt,

Everglades National Park Wildfire Grows To nearly 33,000 Acres

May 31st - 14:53pm | Anonymous

What chemicals were used to suppress the fire?

Research Indicates Annual Precipitation Might Control Yellowstone National Park's Geysers

May 31st - 13:44pm | Fred Miller

Thanks Kurt !! The video camera is too cool !!

May 30th - 22:54pm | Scott Bradford

You say that geysers spout hot water, but we were once lucky enough to be totally showered by the Beehive Geyser, near Old Faithful. The water was cold. Apparently, the water that sits on top of the thermal source does not get heated by it.

Artists' Paint Pots Area in Yellowstone National Park Temporarily Closed Due to Thin Surface Crust

May 31st - 10:02am | jsmacdonald

Definitely. I was on the West Thumb overlook trail 15 years ago, and the thermals were coming through the established trail. We thought it was quite exciting, and we found and told a ranger who basically laughed us off - not sure why because the ranger was giving an interpretive program talking about how quickly thermals change.

May 30th - 19:25pm | Marylander

Wow! What rotten luck! I've walked that trail hundreds of times... quite scary.

Couple That Was Lost In Grand Canyon National Park Had Good Survival Plan

May 30th - 18:37pm | Fred Miller

This is one smart couple. Hopefully they will share what they learned so that others can be equally prepared if it ever happens to them.

Alexander Hamilton's "Country Home" on the Move in New York City

May 30th - 18:06pm | Anonymous

You know there no real good reason to once again to be moving the hamilton house.people need to let good things alone.Instead they need to focus on more important htings like running new york city without corruption.

May 30th - 15:13pm | JimInNewYork

Thank you, Kurt, for this great story ! We have only been able to see the side of this once-beautiful building, as the front and back were pinned against adjacent buildings, and the graceful front and back porches torn away.

Creature Feature: The American Marten

May 30th - 14:57pm | Anonymous

It is protected - it lives in national parks and is protected under National Park Service regs.

Development of Valley Forge National Historical Park Inholding Gets Green Light from Planners

May 30th - 11:13am | Anonymous

This ARC situation in Valley Forge is a true tragedy. It was created by the officials who run the National Park Service and the elected congressional and local government officials who have allowed this to happen, and seem unable to move against a politically popular fundraiser and gadabout and insider.

May 30th - 06:40am | Marylander

I didn't understand this fight until I went back and visited Valley Forge over the holiday weekend with my family. I hadn't been to Valley Forge since I was a child, and WOW has the area around it grown.

Missing Couple Found in Grand Canyon National Park

May 29th - 19:53pm | Jim.hiker

There have been numerous comments written on various boards questioning the couples preparedness and questioning why they did not have a PLB or SPOT or GPS. I live in Henderson, NV and having hiked the Grand Canyon from the South Rim and the North Rim it is very easy to take the wrong turn especially in the remote areas of the GC National Park.

May 29th - 13:45pm | Fred Miller

This IS good news. I too am glad they were found. Were they perhaps not as prepared as they should have been? At least they had folks who knew when they were due to return.

May 29th - 09:31am | Marylander

I have read several guide books about the Royal Arch route and while it sounds beautiful... I have always been too chicken to do it. The guides have always made me feel as though it was out of my technical realm and in that area I am not going to take chances... the limited water part is just plain scarey. I am very glad that this search yeilded a happy ending!

Kings Canyon National Park

May 29th - 17:44pm | chesbeau

I have been shooting landscapes for quite some time now, and I have to say that this dramatic photo of Kings Canyon caught my eye. I would've liked to have shot this one myself! From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life -Arthur Ashe

NPS Retirees Oppose Carrying Guns in National Parks

May 29th - 09:58am | Rick

Mr./Ms Anonymous opined: > One reason why you perhaps haven't seen so many anti-gun-in-parks comments recently is that this is an emotionally charged issue,

Star Party Scheduled for June 21-28 at Grand Canyon National Park

May 29th - 09:17am | pkrnger

It's great that the Grand Canyon Star Party has become a special event during the time of the Summer Solstice. National Parks are special places where dark skies and curious minds collide. Be sure to take advantage of this organized effort to promote public star gazing in the parks.

Search on For Overdue Hikers In Grand Canyon National Park

May 29th - 06:23am | Bogator

They have been found alive. See http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9407607?source=rss.

May 28th - 19:23pm | Random Walker

Iris and Alan's Search Updates "This blog was created so friends and family can post updates on the search for Iris Faraklas and Alan Humphrey."

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Beaches Among Country's Best

May 28th - 21:26pm | Alan Pitt

These beaches, along with last year's winner, Ocracoke, are always listed amongst the top ten. Even with ORV access. Imagine that!

National Park Quiz 4: Beaches

May 28th - 14:13pm | MRC

If you don't want to spoil the fun, please use different file names for the picture, accompanying the quizzes. The picture's name gives away the answer to one of the questions. Same last time with the bridges. And the file name is shown in Firefox browser whenever your mouse is over the image.

May 28th - 07:22am | Bob Janiskee

I've fixed the problem by deleting the "super bonus" question #12. Thank you very kindly for spotting that error. BTW, perhaps you can tell me why Lowell's river swimming beach was closed for a time. My notes indicate that it was "reopened" in 1996.

May 28th - 07:09am | PsL

Not to be a dud, but the river swimming is not in or administerd by Lowell NHP. It is property of Massachusetts DCR and staffed by the City of Lowell Parks and Recreation.

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