Professional Firearms training

Amazon.com Widgets

RIGHT TO CARRY IN NATIONAL PARKS

Senate Panel Votes to Permit National Park Visitors to Carry Guns

With solid bipartisan support, a Senate panel approved legislation on Thursday to allow loaded guns in national parks.

The Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved, 18-5, a draft bill by Sen. Jim DeMint , R-S.C. It would allow people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges unless state laws bar them from doing so. Park Service regulations now allow guns only if they are unloaded and stowed.

“The purpose of this bill is to protect innocent Americans from violent crime in national parks,” DeMint said.

Park advocacy groups immediately decried the move and warned it could be far more difficult for park rangers to stop poaching. “America’s national parks shouldn’t be made a political football in the gun debate,” said Bryan Faehner, associate director for park use at the National Parks Conservation Association.

The push to allow firearms in the parks has been a rallying point for the National Rifle Association. A non-controversial public lands measure was held up for months when Tom Coburn , R-Okla., unsuccessfully tried to bring up a floor amendment on the same topic.

In response to requests from more than 50 senators, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed a regulatory change this year to allow guns in national parks if the state in which they are located permits them in its state parks. The rule could become final before President Bush leaves office.

DeMint’s bill as drafted would allow individuals to carry guns in national parks even if the state bars them in its own parks. Senators agreed before approving the bill make the bill consistent with the proposed regulation before bringing it to the floor

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS ON RIGHT-TO-CARRY IN NATIONAL PARKS
Friday, July 11, 2008

For more than two months, we have been asking NRA members and gun owners to submit comments in support of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry their legally-owned firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges -- and tens of thousands of you have done so. The deadline to submit comments expired on June 30 -- or so we thought.

Unfortunately, rather than closing the prescribed comment period as scheduled and moving toward finalizing this federal regulation, U.S.
Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), succeeded in delaying the implementation of the final rule by bullying the Department of the Interior (their respective congressional subcommittees have oversight of national parks) to extend the deadline for comments http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-15614.htm an additional 30 days!

The goal of their strategy is clear. Extending the public comment period amounts to a blatant and intentional stalling tactic; further pushing back resolution on this matter, possibly until after the election, into a new Administration. This needless extension will also allow opponents of carrying firearms in national parks (like the Humane Society of the U.S. and the National Parks Conservation Association) to rally their troops to express their opposition to this commonsense proposal.

While we disagree with the decision to extend the comments period on this issue, it is now more important than ever that we give the anti-gunners what they profess to want-additional comments. Gun owners, Right-to-Carry permit holders, and all Second Amendment supporters must deluge the Department of the Interior with comments in support of this proposal! The new deadline for submitting comments is August 8, 2008.

Please submit your comments on-line at:
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?
main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648053d497

(Select the icon next to "Add Comments")

Or in writing to:

Public Comments Processing
Attn: 1024-AD70
Division of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222
Arlington, VA 22203

Please act today and forward this message and request to your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners!

************************************************************

* Rules on carrying and transporting firearms should be
consistent—across the board—with the laws of the state that includes the national park or wildlife refuge;
* Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting
themselves and their families while enjoying America's national parks and wildlife refuges;
* The new rules should provide uniformity across all federal
lands, eliminating the patchwork of laws that create confusion for gun owners;
* Current regulations fail to account for the significant change
in state laws since 1984. 48 states now have laws that permit laws that permit carrying and 40 have strong Right-to-Carry laws. Federal regulations should recognize the change in state laws and follow their lead, and;
* The new regulations should restore the rights of law-abiding gun
owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for all lawful purposes on most DOI lands, just as they do now on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands It is critical that gun owners and sportsmen submit comments during this process.

Professional Firearms training

[Home] [Courses] [Schedules] [Gallery] [About Us] [Contact] [Links]