Posted on 02/22/2008 9:44:29 AM PST by Domandred
Fairfax, Va. - At the request of the Bush Administration and 51 members of the United States Senate led by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prohibition of firearms on agency land will be revised in the following weeks. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is leading the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms in National Parks and wildlife refuges.
“Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting themselves and their families while enjoying America’s National Parks and wildlife refuges,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “Under this proposal, federal parks and wildlife refuges will mirror the state firearm laws for state parks. This is an important step in the right direction.”
These new regulations, when finalized, will provide uniformity across our nation’s federal lands and put an end to the patchwork of regulations that governed different lands managed by different federal agencies. In the past, only Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands allowed the carrying of firearms, while National Park lands did not.
The current regulations on possession, carry or transportation of loaded or uncased firearms in national parks were proposed in 1982 and finalized in 1983. Similar restrictions apply in national wildlife refuges. The NRA believes it is time to amend those regulations to reflect the changed legal situation with respect to state laws on carrying firearms.
The effect of these now-outdated regulations on people who carry firearms for self-protection was far from the forefront at the time these regulations were adopted. As of the end of 1982, only six states routinely allowed citizens to carry handguns for self-defense. Currently, 48 states have a process for issuance of licenses or permits to allow law-abiding citizens to legally carry firearms for self-defense.
The move for regulatory change by the Administration will restore the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for lawful purposes in most National Park lands and will make the laws consistent with state law where these lands are located. Fifty-one U.S. Senators from both parties sent a letter to the Department of Interior late last year supporting the move to render state firearms laws applicable to National Park lands.
“These changes will respect the Second Amendment rights of honest citizens, and we look forward to the issuance of a final rule this year,” concluded Cox.
I tend to agree with you on that!
Sometimes? LOL
-—I suspect there will be much heat, little light and much noise over this proposed change—and why should it take all year?
BTW, it’s federal land. Shouldn’t federal rules apply? To heck with California, New York and other liberal bastions. Impose the federal rules on federal land and be done with it. And make those rules comply with the U.S. Constitution and nothing else.
Oh no! People carrying weapons in National Parks??? It’ll be just like the OK Corral. We are doomed, I say...doomed.
</sarc>
Finally, they have done something to support the second amendment. I commend you Bush Administration.
“BTW, it’s federal land. Shouldn’t federal rules apply? To heck with California, New York and other liberal bastions. Impose the federal rules on federal land and be done with it. And make those rules comply with the U.S. Constitution and nothing else.”
I agree with your sentiments, but we have to learn from the libs. Incrementalism.... We get this law today and more tomorrow so eventually we get the second amendment back!
At least now we’ll be on par with the Mexican Drug cartels who have us out armed in the parks and forests.
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=invasion+800+miles
(photos of armed illegal alien drug cartel encampments)
I believe you have a valid opinion there. I just refuse to acknowledge that we don’t have the Second Amendment today.
Bush’s solicitor general sent a breif to the Supreme Court regarding the D.C. case, and it suggested carve outs by municipalities were justified.
We’ve only been waiting a lifetime for the upcoming ruling, and our ilustrious president sought to blur the issue. Folks will have to forgive me for having steam coming out of my ears right now.
“Folks will have to forgive me for having steam coming out of my ears right now.”
Totally understandable. What I don’t understand is that I have posted many criticisms on here about Bush. A good example of one would be to criticize his justice department brief concerning Heller. However, I have posters on here saying that we shouldn’t be criticizing Bush and that we are the ones fracturing the conservative base. Like we are all supposed to follow after Bush or McCain like lemmings.
I will commend Bush when he does conservative things and when he is acting like a liberal gun grabber (like his Justice department amicus brief) I will be criticizing him vehemently!!!
I understand there are stupid liberal Obama koolaid drinkers. It saddens me to find out that there are Bush koolaid drinkers.
What is going on with President Bush. This is the second blow to second amendment rights in the past few months. Second Amendment issues was one of the items, up until recently, he stayed consistent on.
The Republicans want to stall until after the November election, then let the idea die.
I wrote my senator to see if he’d at least put his name on the bill as well. Sounds like it might not be needed, but probably good to put it on USCode so the next administration can’t just take it away on a whim in a year.
George Bush Administration?
Request? They're his employees. Tell them to do it and if they don't, FIRE THEM. Why in the hell does he have to request anything?
The move for regulatory change by the Administration will restore the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for lawful purposes in most National Park lands
This is pretty much the opposite of what his admin's brief to DC said.
That pretty much covers my thoughts on it too. I will say that I am becoming more and more unable to defend Bush on even issues where he should be defended. I am sick to death of his idiotic sophmoric blunders and I have reached the point where I can only wish for him to be gone next January more than I can tell you. His Kosovo act is just one more in a string of ignorant moves that will cause problems all over the globe.
Either he is totally clueless, or he is sharing an agenda that I cannot sign on to.
Thanks, I had misread who did what.
“His Kosovo act is just one more in a string of ignorant moves that will cause problems all over the globe.
Either he is totally clueless, or he is sharing an agenda that I cannot sign on to.”
But we’re the ones fracturing the party... I agree about Kosovo. Can someone tell me how this helps America?? I don’t mind pissing Russia and Putnin off when it is something that advances our interests, but we have no national interests here. I see only bad things coming from us recognizing Kosovo.
I think we’re both sitting in our locations shaking our heads. I don’t see the benefit of this at all.
As I said, there had to be a reason, and I think that reason is supportive of a plan I cannot sign on to.
Actually, that is a charitable observation. The alternative is to think the man is shockingly detatched from reality.
It really does look like he’s in the State Department’s pocket. And that’s a very very bad place for him to be, as far as the nation is concerned.
Cool!
What federal rules? There is not federal law for this. The way National Forest do it is by following the law of the state they are in. Which is just fine. More power to the states and less to the feds.
So what you’re saying is that the federal document “The U.S. Constitution” should be subject to the states intent?
You don’t believe that so I’m not going to argue the point.
I can think of 4 reasons to have a gun in Big Bend Natl. Park.
Bear, mountain lion, javalina and illegals.
Last time we were there, javalina surrounded our tent. We had nothing but hiking poles and a knife to defend ourselves. (we’d heard stories about them attacking and killing humans)
Luckily, they moved on.
Sometimes?
You beat me by a few hours.
Scariest Boy Scout camp out I was ever on was in back country Yellowstone. We were doing a fifty miler and a lady got dragged from her tent by a bear and mauled. Can’t remember if she was killed or not. Troop heard about it the next day from some rangers on horseback...with rifles...checking the area.
Spent the rest of the week eyeballing trees and wondering how fast we could climb em.
>>I swear the Bush Administration has split personality sometimes.<<
I think there may be a catch...
>>both parties sent a letter to the Department of Interior late last year supporting the move to render state firearms laws applicable to National Park lands.<<
By that logic, state laws can also ban firearms in national parks.
And D.C. could do the same.
This may be a Trojan horse. We can take the horse but we need to poke some swords in it and make sure there are no Greeks hiding inside.
LOL, it was a no-brainer huh?
Yep
Such as against blue helmeted UN employees in one of the many national parks like Smoky Mountain National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park... now designated as "World Heritage Sites" as defined by the UN under UNESCO.
US land and territory, now designated as world property by the thugs at the UN.
There really aren't any blue helmets in the UNESCO sites yet... yet.
Thank God!
Here in Oregon there are wilderness areas and areas where endangered species live, where I am prohibited from carrying my concealed weapon. These areas, though, are oftentimes right next to the regular National Forest areas.
And oftentimes the areas where the endangered species live varies from day to day. So I could theoretically be mountain biking in the National Forest and legally be able to carry concealed, and ride into an area where a spotted salamander lives, or a spotted owl, and my heretofore legal weapon suddenly becomes illegal!
And not only that, but if the endangered animal moves, the area that was legal to ride my bike through may suddenly become illegal!
I asked a forest ranger how I’m supposed to know if I’m riding my mountain bike into an area where an endangered species lives, making my CCW illegal, and he says they fly flags or put markers around those areas...
Yikes!
Ed
its pretty crazy, in some places you can drive through a federal park as part of a routine commute and be subject to federal park jurisdiction (natchez trace national parkway was a good example when I lived in Jackson MS) and literally go from having nearly unrestricted in-car carry rights to being a felon as you pass through.
Gee, where I live they expect you to carry.. Big pistols, shotguns or the like.
And you would be silly not to carry.
I live in the biggest National Park the world. Or so the many Greenies would have you believe so.....
Wherezat? Why, Alaska, of course.
If no shots are heard, obviously nobody's shooting a firearm who shouldn't be. If shots are heard, but a person's firearms are all free of powder residue, that would suggest strongly the shots were fired by someone else.
I used to live in Alaska, in Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula.
I worked for the Forest Service at the Kenai Lake Work Center, patrolling, fixing and building trails.
This was during the evil empire of Jimmy Carter and his D(2) land give-away. I remember we got orders to kick all the “squatters” off of public lands, some of whom had lived there for decades, and quite a few miners marched Forest Service personnel off their property at gunpoint.
I was never USFS law enforcement, thank God. I just wore the pickle suit and fixed bad trails and told people not to litter.
I remember John Denver was going to come to Alaska and he was so hated that he couldn’t book a hotel room anywhere, as he was one of the cretins who endorsed D(2).
I drove Outside on the Alcan every year for a few weeks to see my folks in L.A. and whenever I drove back home I’d feel more and more at ease as I passed Liard Hot Springs, then Ten-Mile, then the license tree at Watson Lake, then White Horse, and finally Beaver Creek, North Pole, Tok and HOME to my beloved Kenai Peninsula.
My address was Milepost 36.5, right up the road from a knife maker who’s shop was called IRBI (I’d Rather Be Independent).
Goodness gracious, not a month goes by in which I don’t miss Alaska deeply!
Ed
I remember seeing on Fox News--after President Bush was inaugurated--he was filmed live, sitting at a desk signing papers with his left hand, being given a new pen each time. In the last State of the Union speech, he was signing booklets with his right hand.
Is he even the same person???
I tried to convert Secretary Kempthorne’s letter to Sen. Crapo at Adobe’s website for converting pdf to HTML. I read it. It was one page long. It’s not done 8 hours later. Do you have any better ideas than I had?
I haven't tried Adobe's converter. When I do my conversions like that, I really just highlight the text and paste it into my html editor and wrap the HTML formatting around it.
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