Under pressure from the National Rifle Association, the Bush administration has announced that it will re-open 25-year-old regulations governing firearms in America’s national parks.
The current regulations governing gun possession in America's national parks simply require that guns be unloaded and stowed -- reasonable and limited regulations that were established during the Reagan administration. These regulations exclude units of the National Park System that allow hunting and they enable hunters to safely transport guns when traveling through national parks on their way to nearby hunting grounds. In fact, in Alaska, you can carry a loaded weapon in all units except Klondike Gold Rush, Sitka, and the former Mt. McKinley National Park and Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments.
The National Parks Conservation Association supports the right of Americans to own guns and use them responsibly, but our Alaska Regional Office is concerned with how the change in gun regulations could affect Katmai National Park and Preserve, in particular.
Brooks Camp in Katmai is a popular brown bear viewing location. But unlike other popular bear viewing sites such as McNeil River, Brooks Camp has no limit on the number of people that can visit, so bears and lots of guests regularly mingle in close quarters. Our concern is that anxious park visitors not used to hanging around brown bears may over-react to bear behavior that is not life-threatening.
The National Park Service orients Brooks Camp visitors on how to behave around bears and they have a good system to keep people from coming in direct contact with bears, but ultimately it can't always be avoided. And you can just imagine the reaction of an armed visitor from the Lower 48 coming face-to-face with a Brooks brown bear behaving in a way that appears threatening.
Most visitors at Brooks Camp are very cautious around the bears - in part because they are unarmed. If visitors began carrying loaded guns, they may not take as much caution and care around the bears because they feel more protected.
In this situation, if a visitor armed with a handgun misreads bear behavior and panics, a series of possible events could occur:
1. The visitor fires a shot in the air to scare the bear. This likely won't scare a bear off, because although the Park Service tries to condition the bears to stay away from people, the reality is that the bears at Brooks Camp often just ignore loud noises.
2. At this point, the scared visitor could further panic and shoots the bear with the handgun, which is rarely fatal to a large coastal brown bear (a rifle would be more capable of killing a large bear). Now, you have a wounded (and potentially erratic) bear in and around a trail system, cabins, a lodge and a popular fishing stream all filled with people.
Shooting a bear in and around Brooks Camp would also put other park visitors at risk, as there are always other people on the trails or around the lodge and cabins. In a panic, when a visitor is frightened by a bear and opens fire, they may not be aware of the location of other visitors who may be nearby.
While most Alaskans embrace their firearms, they have accepted that in some of Alaska’s national park units - like Katmai - the lack of firearms provides for a unique park experience. Guns at Brooks Camp could blow that experience away.
Jim Stratton is the Alaska regional director for the NPCA.
Comments
It's not the bear or animal I fear, it's the two legged critters who want to do me harm. 99% of people who legally pack a weapon are very nice, respectable and law abiding. They are not hot heads, ready to start a shootout like some of the liberals claim. The weapon is a last resort to protect your life, and I hope the law is changed to allow concealed carry in National Parks, just crossing a border from a state to a federal property does not make me want to become a criminal, the law does.
News flash today:
Mountain lion attacks boy celebrating birthday. Father shoots lion to save son.
On Animal Planet: A bird watcher surprises a female grizzly and her cubs and is mauled; a female mountain biker is attacked by a 130 pound mountain lion.
And on the Biography Channel: The Yosemite Killer. The case of serial killer Cary Stayner, who killed visitors to Yosemite National Park in 1999.
When I travel, I don't park in dark places. I lock my doors and wear my seat belt. I stay around where other people are. I don't golf in the rain or sleep on railroad tracks. When I fly, I file a flight plan. When we backpack, we carry a PLB, matches, signal device, etc. In other words, we follow the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared. We take care of ourselves. No one else will.
Its not up to you as to who can have a gun in the park, it's a matter of my right to have a gun!
This shouldn't be an issue. The 2nd Amendment doesn't make any exceptions to the right to self-defense, including on national parks. The gun restrictions are illeagal to begin with and need repealed or challenged in court. Do you realy want to do the stupid thing and play dead with a grizzly or fight back? You anti-gun folks are just clueless about nature and the real world.
Timothy Treadwell thought very much like these anti-gunner peaceniks. Now, he is dead.
Bears, lions and wolves are all wild animals. Not cute cuddly, warm and fuzzy pets like your cartoons and fairy tales depict.
And then there is the recommended defensive bear encounters advise by the NPS. To, play dead or in the event of a black bear or your tent is invaded by bears, always fight back. Fight back ? With what? Fight back and pull back a stump ?
Please. How did so many liberals ... get to be in charge of our National Park System ?
Editor's note: This comment was edited to remove a gratuitous aspersion.
This is an issue of personal freedom and self defense. We all have a natural right to self defense. That right was not given by the constitution, instead it is protected by the constitution. No one has the right to deny citizens of their right to defend themselves, be it from beast or man.
Animals can and do injury and kill people. Humans can and do injury and kill other humans. The only person that is responsible for our personal safety is ourselves. Anyone that denies us the tools we need to defend ourselves, acts in an unethical and unconstitutional manner.
Under the current rule change proposal, only those with concealed handgun permits would be allowed to carry a handgun. Those with permits have proven themselves to be the most law abiding group of citizens in the nation. Even more law abiding than police officers. To deny these people their right to self defense because of the chance that a few idiots will act irresponsibly is insane. Do we deny everyone the right to drive because a few people drive recklessly or drive drunk? No, we punish those that endanger or hurt others, but allow the rest of us to keep driving. It's no different with firearms.
Very true.
Also true enough. Which is why, to the best of my knowledge, the federal government does not mandate that every citizen spend at least two weeks a year within the boundaries of a national park. No one is forcing anyone to go to national parks. The best way to defend yourself from all these vile beasts and crazed humans that are stalking our parks, is to stay far away from them. Thankfully, the law says that you have the right to not go to Yosemite. If they ever change that law, I'll be 100% in favor of allowing guns in there.
Boy are you wrong!