Posted on 02/23/2010 5:38:58 PM PST by marktwain
The fact that a new law allowing loaded guns in national parks went into effect on the same day (today) as rules imposing restrictions on credit card companies is no coincidence: In a nice illustration of the way things work in Congress, the guns bill was attached as an amendment to the (completely-unrelated) credit card legislation back in May.
The new rule allows people to carry firearms, including semi-automatic weapons, in most national parks and wildlife refuges, so long as they follow the gun laws of the state. (That could get a little complicated, as more than 30 parks occupy land in multiple states.) As the Los Angeles Times points out, that means people can now carry concealed weapons while camping in places like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
Critics, including former directors of the National Park Service, complain that the rule marks parks more dangerous: They argue that the decision to overturn a 1983 law visitors mandating that visitors had to unload and disassemble their guns and place them somewhere not-easily-accessible increases the prospect of violence. The new rule is "a risky change that will endanger families, hikers, those who work in these places and the park rangers themselves," as a Ventura County Star editorial put it.
"When you are at a campfire and people are getting loud and boisterous next to you, you used to have to worry about them quieting down. Now you have to worry about when they will start shooting," Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told the Associated Press.
Defenders of the new rule like David Codrea counter that the rule won't legalize murder or poaching.
"An otherwise peaceable armed citizen who gets by just fine with his guns outside park boundaries won't ...
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I’ve heard of some crazy things happening at Yellowstone. I’ll stick to the nice quite parks in the upper peninsula.
I happy I am now in compliance with the law.
They never pass up a gloom and doom quote from Paul Helmke, who has useed the same scare tactics for years even though his dire predictions have never come true.
“New gun law will have litte impact at Voyageurs National Park”
A new federal law allowing guns in national parks will have a limited impact in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
The new law takes effect Monday. It allows people who can legally possess firearms under federal, state and local laws to possess them in Voyageurs National Park, but there’s a catch.
It makes possession of firearms in national parks subject to the firearms laws of the states where the parks are located.
The park notes that Minnesota bans rifles, shotguns or BB guns in public places such as Voyageurs. People who wish to take handguns into the park can do so as long as they comply with all applicable Minnesota laws.
Voyageurs Superintendent Mike Ward says visitors should do their research ahead of time.
Hunting remains illegal in Voyageurs.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1430334.shtml?cat=206
Michigan's Upper Peninsula is great for vacations in the warmer weather!
Although one does have to be aware of the black fly season...
LOL the UP is nearly a 6 hour drive for me too.
The Feds are finally taking steps to allow law-abiding citizens to carry weapons in National Forest lands just as criminals do on a daily basis.
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