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Interior Officials Release Rule Change to Allow National Park Visitors to Arm Themselves

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Interior Department officials finally did what was expected Friday when they published a rule change that will allow national park visitors to arm themselves.

In a decision that surely will delight some and surely disgust others, the Bush administration ignored all past living directors of the National Park Service, the Park Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Association of National Park Rangers, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, and the National Parks Conservation Association in deciding it would be OK for park visitors to carry weapons if they hold concealed weapons permits and the park they are in is located within a state that allows concealed carry.

“Once again, political leaders in the Bush administration have ignored the preferences of the American public by succumbing to political pressure, in this case generated by the National Rifle Association. This regulation will put visitors, employees and precious resources of the National Park System at risk. We will do everything possible to overturn it and return to a common-sense approach to guns in national parks that has been working for decades,” said Bill Wade, president of the retirees group.

The administration received almost 140,000 comments, the vast majority of which opposed the proposal to allow loaded guns in national parks.

The groups opposed to the rule change say the "final regulation is even more extreme than the administration’s original proposal, and permits concealed and loaded guns to be carried in national parks located in any states with concealed carry laws, not just those that allow guns in their state parks as originally proposed. Only the three national park units in Wisconsin and Illinois, which do not issue concealed carry permits, are excluded."

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, there were 1.65 violent crimes per 100,000 national park visitors in 2006—making national parks some of the safest places in the United States. Those opposed to the rule change say the new regulation could increase the risk for impulse shootings of wildlife, and risk the safety of visitors and rangers.

Despite the potential affect on national park wildlife and resources, the administration did not conduct an environmental review as required by law, and some believe that opens the door for a lawsuit to halt the rule change.

“Land management agencies have worked diligently over the years to successfully create the different sets of expectations amongst the visiting public to reflect the differing levels of resource protections for each specific area,” said John Waterman, president of the Park Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. “National parks are different from other public lands. The visitor population expects, demands, and gets a higher degree of protection, enforcement, and restriction in a national park.

"Furthermore, while national parks are amongst the safest areas to be in, the toll on the U.S. Park Ranger is high: U.S. Park Rangers are the most assaulted federal officers in the country. This vague, wide-open regulation will only increase the danger U.S. Park Rangers face.”

In a letter sent to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on April 3, 2008, seven former directors of the National Park Service said that there is no need to change the existing regulation. “In all our years with the National Park Service, we experienced very few instances in which this limited regulation created confusion or resistance,” the letter stated. “There is no evidence that any potential problems that one can imagine arising from the existing regulations might overwhelm the good they are known to do.”

At the Association of National Park Rangers, President Scot McElveen said “American citizens have traditionally valued the professional opinions of park rangers when it comes to managing national parks. In the professional opinion of ANPR, this regulation change will have negative impacts on park wildlife. Our experience in operating parks creates disbelief that wildlife poaching rates will not increase under the new regulation. We oppose this rash regulatory change.”

Echoing these concerns, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees last month released a report revealing that more than three out of four of 1,400 current and former employees of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service predict that this controversial regulation will have an adverse affect on the ability of agency employees to accomplish their mission. Furthermore, it found that 75 percent of respondents feel that there will be an increase in opportunistic or impulse wildlife killings in parks and refuges.

“With this decision, many state parks across the country will now provide a more protective environment for wildlife and visitors than national parks—once the safest place for families. Furthermore, this decision undermines the ability of national park professionals to manage the parks and runs counter to the overwhelming majority of Americans who wrote in opposition to allowing loaded firearms in our national parks,” said NPCA Associate Director for Park Uses Bryan Faehner.

Comments

Capt:
The Natural Laws of Life? As in the Book of Genesis? As in Laws derived from personal idiosyncratic interpretation of the Bible?
I thought we were talking about the United Sates of America, in which separation of Church and State is one of the guiding principles our society is built upon.

Anonymous National Park Ranger:
Thank you for your years of service. I'm glad that, in all the years I have been visiting National Parks, I personally have never encountered ANY "predator". Of course, I visit the parks in a very conscious and aware manner; doing so I feel has kept me safe, without ever feeling the need to carry any method of personal defense. And if I am to be the sudden victim of attack, I doubt there is anything I could use in defense that would have PREVENTED the attack.

No doubt this is one of those issues that is deeply felt by most citizens. And I suspect this will remain one of those issues central to our Democracy that will never be finally decided to every citizens' satisfaction. I like every poster here wishes only the best outcome of every legislative decision made by the administration.


I find all these responses very biased and so off the point it is unbelieveable. The point is, if the state in which the national land is located has concealed weapon law(s) then state law applies. Why then can't someone who is legally licensed to carry a weapon in a car, in an RV, walking on the street, having a picnic in a local or state park not be permitted to carry a gun in a Nationall Park? If states believe a citizen can legally carry a gun on state property then why all the uproar about carrying a a gun in a National Park? If a state feels concealed gun laws are inappropriate then they can change them.

For all you who are against guns, gun ownership, and a fear that everyone now entering a National Park are at a significantly higher risk of being killed or maimed get a life! Better yet, don't go the parks and that will make more room for us who do not have the fear that you do. I can now see a new money making scheme for the National Parks...they can sell life/accident insurance for those who fear for their lives when entering a National Park!

By the way...this is the same policy that has been followed by the BLM and USFS and things seem to be going well there.


Kurt: “Rick, I've been wondering where you've been lurking!”

Well life has been a bit distracting lately but I’m still around. We just got Pennsylvania’s Legislature to eliminate an illegal departmental restriction on concealed carry in state parks. For now, back to the national parks!

To put things into some historical perspective, Article 1 Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution reads, “ The right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.” That’s clear and unambiguous. This Article was used as a model for the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The recent Heller Supreme Court decision finally codified what we have been saying all along (and that more than 40 other Supreme Court cases acknowledged), that the Second Amendment guarantees and INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms. None of this silly “national guard” only stuff. The majority of states long ago legislated that to extend beyond just the home and to include concealed carry.

Quasi intellectuals are always quick to dismiss this concept as macho silliness and revile anyone who espouses the inherent value of self-reliance and of an armed citizenry. To them anyone who carries a gun is merely a Dodge City Neanderthal.

The truth is these quasi intellectuals are the ones with the inherently flawed argument: “I don’t need to carry a gun, that’s why the police are there.” The problem for them is the police are under no legal obligation to protect anyone and it’s so arrogant and self-aggrandizing to assume that someone should risk their life to save yours when you refuse to assume responsibility for your own safety.

The Kumbaya Krowd are in major denial when it comes to the Real World ™. Simply being kind and loving to people and propounding peacnik niceties doesn’t do you a whit of good when the feces hit the rotating ventilation system. Evil exists and evil will persist regardless of your lame attempts to wish it away. You have something and someone else will want it and they will take it.

A well-known firearms trainer named Col. Jeff Cooper devised a “coding” system to assist those individuals who did take responsibility for their own safety. The system started at Code White and progressed though Code Red. See where your situational awareness fits in:

White - Relaxed, unaware, and unprepared. If attacked in this state the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy and ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty your reaction will probably be, "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."

Yellow - Relaxed alertness. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself." There is no specific threat but you are aware that the world is an unfriendly place and that you are prepared to do something if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and your carriage says "I am alert." You don't have to be armed in this state but if you are armed you must be in yellow. When confronted by something nasty your reaction will probably be, "I thought this might happen some day." You can live in this state indefinitely.

Orange - Specific alert. Something not quite right has gotten your attention and you shift your primary focus to that thing. Something is "wrong" with a person or object. Something may happen. Your mindset is that "I may have to shoot that person." Your pistol is usually holstered in this state. You can maintain this state for several hours with ease, or a day or so with effort.

Red - Fight trigger. This is your mental trigger. "If that person does "x" I will shoot them." Your pistol may, but not necessarily, be in your hand.

The Kumbaya Krowd is constantly operating under Code White because their view of the world is that everyone will be nice to them because they’re so polite themselves. This is how you get into dangerous situations.

But if we’re in one of those Gardens of Eden we call national parks we certainly won’t face danger, right? Of course not. That’s why we have park rangers. They’ll protect us. If there are crimes they only happen to people who weren’t nice to someone. This thinking is also how you become part of that 1.65 in 100,000 violent crime victims.

Kurt: “… The outgoing Bush administration might think it doesn't need that 60-day window, as it doesn't believe there's a $100 million impact related to this decision and so 30 days notice is good enough.”

That there would be a hundred million dollar impact as a result of this regulation I think is absurd. How can you conclude that allowing someone to possess something across the street in a park can actually cost something? This hasn’t happened in 40 states that enacted right-to-carry laws – outside of or across the street from parks – and it simply doesn’t compute here. If anything it will cost the parks less because there will be less crime. That’s been proven. So there will actually be a net benefit to the park system instead of your imaginary cost. Or are you implying Interior will invest a hundred million in some form of security measures to defend against those crazed hoards of Second Amendment wackos? That’s crazy.

Kurt: “What might prove more important, though, and what the park advocates might concentrate on, is suing on the grounds that Interior didn't follow NEPA in promulgating this rule. If they do, and they're successful, the rule will very likely die a slow, withering death. Until the political power shifts once again.”

Let Obama try to overturn it. Talk about the feces hitting the rotating ventilation device. That’d be the dumbest thing he could do out of the gate. He’s tried to position himself through his campaign as a “friend” of the Second Amendment. Everyone knows he’s a gun-grabber from the get-go and never saw a gun ban he didn’t like. When he starts that putrid talk about “supporting sportsmen’s rights” and claiming to acknowledge Second Amendment individual rights you might as well put an Elmer Fud hat on him for a photo-op. He’s as disingenuous as the Brady Bunch or any of the current top Democrat leadership. You think gun sales are up now? Wait ‘til he signals he’s interested in gun control legislation fed to him by his Demo cronies.

Kurt: “I think relying simply on what DOI's legal staff has concluded is a waste of time.”

Ehhhhhh, Idunno, Kurt. we’ll see.

Kurt: “ As for the Heller decision, correct me if I'm wrong (as I know you will), but didn't that opinion hold that the 2nd amendment most definitely applies to you in your home, but the federal government has the right to institute reasonable controls elsewhere in society?”

And the Feds can sometimes giveth what was taken away, as in this situation, where a federal department has acknowledged that States’ rights should prevail and our Second Amendment rights should not be abrogated by excessively restrictive bureaucratic regulations, such as 36CFR2.4, within an artificial bureaucratic boundary. This amendment simply restores what the Reagan administration took from us.

Kurt: “As for how the bulk of the comments came down, my information is from NPCA”

I’d still like to see real data, please, from the government - not opinions from some “advocacy groups.” I really don’t care what these law enforcement types say. They already have a gun. It’s good to be the king. It’s easy for them to say I’m safe and I don’t need a gun to protect myself because there’s a ranger on duty covering 100,000 acres who can “enforce the law.” Where are these guys, anyway, when I’m our in the middle of nowhere? They’re eating donuts somewhere, writing tickets or putting on displays for the day-tripping tourists. I was at Shenandoah in October and we hiked over the course of three days. I didn’t see one cop in the woods except those on roadside asset re-allocation details. To be fair, there are many rangers – and law enforcement in general - who DO understand the problem and have written here in support of the change. These are the men and women who DO have a clue, unlike some middle manager just interested in keeping his job. I’ve been Karen Taylor-Goodriched for years and I’m soooo over that!

Kurt: “And really, is this a personal safety issue? As noted above, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report…there were 1.65 violent crimes per 100,000 national park visitors in 2006. 1.65, Rick.”

That sure sounds pretty low, Kurt, but when you get whacked on the head and your wife or girlfriend gets raped and has a love child to the rapist you can console her with: “Gee honey, the good news is you were just 1.65 out of a hundred thousand! Maybe you shoulda bought a lottery ticket today, too!” Yes, it is a personal safety issue. I prefer to assume responsibility for my safety and refuse to allow a bureaucrat to claim I’m safe while at the same time not be held legally responsible for protecting my life.

Kurt: “Some perspective. The U.S. murder rate is 5.9 per 100,000?“

Bogus comparison, Kurt. You’re just picking numbers and not factoring in other national, cultural, legal and demographic criteria. Some additional perspective I’ve posted before: criminals commit the crimes and will continue to do so regardless of how pretty your park is. Concealed carry permit holders prevent crimes and save lives.

The essence of the complaints of the anti gun crowd here is “we don’t like guns because they scare us and we don’t think you need them, therefore we don’t want you to have them because we know what’s best...” There’s a professor at the university where I work who’s admitted in writing he’s terrified to walk outside knowing there are citizens with concealed handguns. Is he kidding me? Well, probably not. He’s the typical nanny-state liberal and he sounds like what I’ve read in a number of posts here. He isn’t yammering about all of the criminals committing crimes – no, they’re the victims in his eyes. He’s yammering about law-abiding citizens exercising their Constitutional rights. Pfffffft.

This entire pseudo Nostradamus-like anti-gun crusade has been repeated ad nauseam 40 times in 40 states with areas of greater population densities than in parks – meaning, essentially, more potential target-rich environments or greater potential likelihood of confrontations. You know, cars passing and guns blazing. If there was any credence to the gun-haters’ prognostications we would have seen the much heralded “Dodge City” or “blood running in the streets” or “cowboys going gun-crazy” and the ensuing skyrocketing crime rates long ago. None of that happened any of the 40 times in 40 states and crime rates, in fact, went down because permit holders are trustworthy. And because the CRIMINALS knew their next victim might shoot them. Oooops! So much for that argument (but, hey, we’ll continue to beat a dead hysteria).

Concealed carry permit holders won’t be bothering the fine, polite, upstanding, nature-loving, pristine-sanctuary-enjoying park visitors and hikers because they’re too oblivious to know which concealed carry permit holding visitor is carrying a firearm. Permit holders won’t be “brandishing” their little phallic toys. They won’t be out blasting and poaching Bambis or shooting up signs for target practice. They’re just assuming responsibility for the own safety and not dumping that responsibility on some law enforcement person who has a family to go home to.

So, basiclly, RTFAQ: http://www.doi.gov/issues/Firearms%20Update%20FAQ%2012-4-08.pdf that sums it your complaints relatively well. Continue to be nice to everyone, as you have been doing. Enjoy your “pristine sanctuary” parks. Just know someday someone you meet may not be very nice to you. What will you do if you’re that “only” 1.65 out of 100,000 and the police aren’t there to “protect and serve”? It really is a personal safety issue. You can be safe or you can believe someone else might ensure your safety.


I hope you see the compelling need to carry a dictionary with you as well as your "gun." The dictionary is bound to keep you far safer than your fear and paranoia.


It simply amazes me the influx of pro gun contributers to this blog, as well as the anti gun individuals. It appears to me the gun issue takes far more attention then it actually deserves. Admitting, this is a hot button issue that the gun lobby loves to wield and kick around (as opposed to kicking Bush's plans down the drain to drill into Utah's grand National Parks). If we can all help to divert this gun hysteria into something more meaningful and constructive in stopping Bush's rape, greed and pillage of Utah...then I think we have accomplish something holistically together stop this "drill baby drill" madness. I'm more worried about the consequences of Bush's last days in office and his destructive format to reward the oil and utility companies with easy access into the National Park boundaries, then some gun loving park visitor. In my 40 years of backpacking, camping and hiking, I never ever encounter a violent situation...except for a few bears, marmots and drunken bums. Grant you that I'm no tenderfoot at this either. However, now I might consider my fate when I see the drunken bums in action since the new gun laws allow the National Park visitors to carry them. A big mistake!


Warren Z

You do want to put words in other peoples mouths don't you ?
Where did I mention the Bible ? or the Torah ? or the Koran ? Upanishads ? Medicine Wheel ? Any Organized Religion ?

YOU might be talking about the united States of America but I was discussing the right to defend myself. That exact same right shared by every living thing in every country of the world and all of the oceans as well.
Why do you suppose the Acacia tree has those thorns ?
Are they landing places for insects ? Or a defense against herbivorous predators ?

The Natural Laws of Life I was referring to are such things as; Keep breathing or die, Eat to survive or die, Defend yourself or die.

You seem to be intentionally missing the point. Do you work for the BATFE ?

To All ....
Have you ever asked yourself ... If guns are so bad that we need to completely control them why do we allow government employees to carry them ? Are government employees more trustworthy than you or I ? What does it say about a government that thinks you [all of its citizens] are not to be trusted ?
The Department of Agriculture Agents need guns ? Agriculture ?
Are the corn plants in open rebellion ?
Has the wheat harvest threatened secession ? Why are not the farmers up in arms ?
What are the Agriculture Agents doing to American citizens that requires that they carry firearms to defend themselves ?
Whatever it is must be pretty horrendous ?
LIKE FOOD RAIDS IN OHIO !?! Yes, you read that right.
Scroogle scraper[scroogle dot org] this: LaGrange,Ohio +Food Raid. You may or may not be amazed, shocked and angered.
Vicky Weaver was murdered over 3/8ths of an inch of wood too short on a shotgun stock and the $200 fine it incurred because of that length discrepancy. Her 14 year old son was murdered by a gunshot from the same sniper that same day.
Scroogle Ruby Ridge or Lon Horiouchi. Our government and our citizens.

The framers of the Bill of Rights put The Second Amendment at the number two place because it was that important to them. Not number eight or ten but number two right behind freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and redress of grievances.
How do you redress grievances to an armed tyrant that seems intent on ignoring and abusing you ? Ta Da .... the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is not about saving hunting rifles or shotguns .... its about saving our Republic from tyranny whether foreign or domestic. Now where did I hear that before ?

And while I am on the subject of antique documents that the government ignores If you will read the Militia Act of 1792 you will find that All males from 17 to 45 Are REQUIRED to own a gun and the ammunition for it. That law has NOT been struck down by the way. 216 years old and still in force.
So .... the militia is not about "helping" the standing army it's about defending the common citizen FROM the standing army in the event of a tyrant trying to usurp the protected rights of the People.
And where have we heard that recently ?

I have spent a considerable time in some of our National Parks and I have yet to see an incident where firearms were used. I know it has happened and that I was not and am not omnipresent but it sure seems to me that this whole brou-ha-ha sure is "Much Ado About Nothing".

Anti-gun proponents raise enough hue and cry you would think that every single gun was operating itself and attacking the populous by itself. There are Hundreds of Millions of guns in this country why haven't they killed us all off before now ?
Guns don't kill people, people kill people and if you're a government employee you can kill without punishment, right Mr Horiouchi ?

A law abiding citizen should be able to openly carry a firearm or a two handed sword if s/he desires. The framers thought so as well. They wanted us to have and carry the same arms as our own army. It sure makes a possible tyrant planning a takeover think first doesn't it ?

I am done here.
I want to thank the National Park Service for the excellent job they have done of keeping up the parks for the People of these united States of America. And I would like to thank them for this opportunity to express my opinion here in public about this rule change which I heartily endorse but you must have figured that out by now.

Liberty for All,

Capt


Capt:

Thank you for your thorough arguments here. I must say I do enjoy a good debate.
And I applaud you for your conviction to your beliefs, as I would hope you would so for me. Believe it or not, I try embrace all viewpoints and do not automatically dismiss those whose opinions differ from my own. But this being a forum set up for comment and debate, I cannot resist the invitation.

I will tell you that I am not an employee of the BATFE. (The standard abbreviation is actually ATF.)
So, someone who feels as strongly as I do about keeping guns out of our National Parks could only be an employee of a Federal law enforcement and regulatory agency? A fair question, and one that I would probably ask if I were on your side of this debate, feeling as passionately as I do. However, I am not an ATF employee.

I guess I feel so strongly about this because I was not brought up in a household that owned guns. But then again, there are many gun owners and enthusiasts that also believe personal firearms have no place in the parks. Only time will show us all how this new rule will play out.
Again I will say that I do not wish to overturn any law, governmental, universal, natural, or otherwise, that you feel grants you a right to protect yourself. I would however hope that we are all following the same rules set forth for the society we live in, and operating within the established guidelines to effect change if we see fit to do so.

Thanks to you, Capt., and all bloggers here, I have enjoyed this debate a great deal. I think we can all agree that no matter what happens with this new rule under the incoming administration, the debate will never go away.


Very well stated. I concur. I don't understand the panic of having a licensed and trained hiker or camper in the wilds with you. Some of these writers must go to some very trashy and over crowded campsites. Drunks? Guess I get too far off the beaten path in most cases. As far as wild life dangers go, I've never had a problem because I didn't do anything stupid like leave food out or not watch what was going on around me. Never had to kill a snake and move rattlesnakes out of the road. Am aware there are the occasional rabid animals that will attack and defy all the "normal" behavior patterns and that's when you want a sidearm.


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