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U.S. Senator To Make Bid to Allow National Park Visitors to Carry Guns

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U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn wants to make it OK to carry guns in the national parks.

Why would a doctor be determined to provide more access to guns in the country?

U.S. Senator Thomas Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, will try to do that by introducing an amendment that would bar the Interior secretary from enforcing the current ban on carrying weapons in the parks.

The attempt by Sen. Coburn, who specializes in family medicine and "has personally delivered more than 4,000 babies," has drawn the attention of the Association of National Park Rangers, the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police, and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.

Sen. Coburn's effort, which you can find attached below, would prohibit the Interior secretary from enforcing regulations currently in place that require gun owners to have their guns unloaded and stored while visiting most units of the park system.

In a letter sent to other senators, (and also attached below) the three groups say Sen. Coburn's amendment not only could lead to an increase in poaching in the parks but also impact the safe atmosphere that currently exists.

Senator Coburn’s amendment could dramatically degrade the experience of park visitors and put their safety at risk if units of the National Park System were compelled to follow state gun laws. For example, since Wyoming has limited gun restrictions, visitors could see persons with semi-automatic weapons attending campground programs, hiking down park trails or picnicking along park shorelines at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Moreover, many rangers can recite stories about incidents where the risk to other visitors – as well as to the ranger – would have been exacerbated if a gun had been readily-accessible. This amendment would compromise the safe atmosphere that is valued by Americans and expected by international tourists traveling to the United States.

There is simply no legitimate or substantive reason for a thoughtful sportsman or gun owner to carry a loaded gun in a national park unless that park permits hunting. The requirement that guns in parks are unloaded and put away is a reasonable and limited restriction to facilitate legitimate purposes—the protection of precious park resources and safety of visitors.

You can contact Sen. Coburn via this site to let him know what you think of his plans.

Comments

Kurt,

I posted twice yesterday, once anonymously and once using Don M. The comment about my 1A rights was sarcasm, I realized that I have no right to free speech here. Your comments about my 2A rights are flawed. The rights in the Bill of Rights are individual rights. Nobody ever argues that the First Amendment, or the 4th, or 5th are collective rights. Why would the 2nd be any different? The debate isn't over my right to carry on public lands, it is over my right to keep and bear arms.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. " The wording is simple and clear. The same people in this amendment are the people who have the right to freedom of speech and assembly, the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches. The same applies to the 5th, this is not a collective right but the right of an individual to due process.

To muddy the water by stating that there is a debate about what exactly the Second Amendment is about is unfair. There seems to be no debate about the other 9 amendments, they are all acknowledged as individual rights. I'm cringing right now because I'm waiting for somebody to state that the founding fathers didn't have machine guns or rocket launchers in mind when the wrote the amendment and that we need to change with the times. The founding fathers never envisioned us using television, radio or the internet to communicate either. If we start restricting 2A rights when are we going to start restricting 1A rights?

For the record I am well aware of the laws concerning the transporting of guns through National Parks, I transferred from CA to MI this spring and passed through 4 national parks on my way out here, with all of my guns in my truck, nice and legal like.


Kurt,

I forgot to address your comment about 2A cases before the Supreme Court. I'm inferring that you're are talking about DC vs. Heller. DC is appealing because if you don't like what you hear, appeal and appeal and appeal some more. I'm hopeful that SCOTUS is going to put this to rest for once and for all but I'm not holding my breath.

Allowing me to carry legally in a NP is not going to increase crime one bit but there is a chance it could decrease crime. I also have no intentions of using a weapon against a bear or cougar. If I end up in trouble with one of them it was because of my own neglect. Avoiding trouble with wild animals is pretty simple. My guns are for protection against other humans.


Mike - I read your post on Yellowstone Ecology. Funny stuff. I assume you also support amnesty for illegal aliens?


This bill is long overdue. It would make a lot of park visitors legal park visitors. I know people who have concealed carry permits and are just not going to put their lives in danger by not have either a sidearm or shotgun nearby and an unloaded gun is useless. I have it on good authority that Yosemite has it's own jail or just a holding cell and it's not there for the four legged animals.

Ever been on the far back roads of Death Valley or Big Bend parks where you can go weeks without seeing a ranger? Been camping and seen some scary people out there and you just don't know what chemical they are on or what they might do. There are occasional animal attacks too, but if you keep a clean camp, that shouldn't be a problem.

As for an increase in poaching, where did this come from? Poachers are going to commit a crime no matter what if they are so inclined. I'd like to hear the reasoning on that.

This bill would not stop crime in the National Parks, but I believe like Texas and Nevada most people just assume someone in certain states are armed and it just might not be a good idea to do the crime.


Fred,
No. Not sure I see the connection you are making.

I own several guns, and wouldn't support a ban. Let's face it, though, that's never going to happen. Nobody is going to take away anyone else's guns. This is just an election year issue designed to placate voters that want a simple litmus test for their candidates. This country really has much more important things to worry about.

Mike


This has been debated as naseum, and I know that this logic will go over your head Don M, but comparing the 1st amendment and 2nd amendment, exactly how they are written, shows what the founding fathers had in mind. Why would they put the preface, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State" before "the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"? If they felt that everyone had an individual right to keep and bear arms no matter what, why wouldn't they phrase the 2nd Amendment just like the first and say, "Congress shall make no law infringing on a person's right to keep and bear arms"? Why would the preface concerning a militia be needed at all? Unless, of course, they felt that the only reason free people would need keep and bear arms is due to the fact that there was not a national military at the time the Bill of Rights was written, and if the time came when a state militia was needed, that militia needed to arm themselves. Thankfully we don't ask our Marines to bring their own machine guns into battle any more. The country has changed, the needs have changed, and unfortunately 200 years of letting people arm themselves won't go away any time soon.


I have a problem with guns in Parks with lots of wildlife such as Yellowstone. My concern is not regarding poaching. My concern is having someone see an animal such as a coyote wander close to their campsite ( which happens many times ) and someone who isn't used to this panicking and shooting the animal. I can see the excuses now, "Oh my kid was outside". You will have situations like this if this is allowed to happen. I can also see instances of people mistaking a rustle in the trees as a bear and possibly shooting a person. In Parks such as Yellowstone, many people I see have a "bear paranoia" and I can totally see accidents and also the shooting of simply curious bears that mean no harm.


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I brought up the First Amendment so I'll respond to Teddy Mather even though this article is about carrying guns in National Parks. The text of the amendment is just as clear to me as in the 2A. Stating that "I know that this logic will go over your head Don M," is the same as calling me a Neanderthal or a beer swilling slob (read Teddy Mathers post towards the top), just because I disagree with you. I'm willing to listen to facts and well reasoned arguments but insults don't belong here.

A few posters talked about the safe atmosphere in the parks and how having guns in the parks would ruing that feeling. I googled "crime in national parks" was amazed and disturbed by what I read in the first two articles. Three Park Rangers have been shot to death since 1998, drug smuggling and crime are on the rise in Big Bend NP, Organ Pipe NP and Padre Island National Lake Shore. Gang activity is on the rise at Lake Mead NRA. Park Rangers are 12 times more likely to be assaulted than an FBI agent, and the number of violent confrontations with Rangers rose from 98 in 2002 to 106 in 2003 and 111 in 2004. I will provide links.

archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/14/162412.shtml - 21k -

www.csmonitor.com/2005/0808/p03s01-ussc.html - 74k

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/08/national/main765404.shtml - 75k -

These were just the first three articles that came up. I would submit that crime is indeed on the rise and that National Parks are not as safe as they used to be and that we need to take a hard look at whether or not to allow the carry of weapons in the park. This is a decision that should be based on fact, not emotion.


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