Need action on concealed carry in National Parks

[bsf]

Bump.

Sent emails out to my Congressman Mike Rogers and Secretary Kempthorne.

 

[ZeSpectre]

BTT for an important step.
And to quote SmurfSlayer's important information...

Don't allow transfer to a flunkie!

http://bighammer.net/timeline.html - in my contacts link I have a few DOI/NPS officials named.

IF you get transferred to either Jerry Case, or Karen Taylor-Goodrich DON'T WASTE YOUR BREATH!

Ask to be transferre BACK to the Secretary's office. DO NOT take no for an answer.

Case is the guy the NPS sends petitions to "to die". Taylor-Goodrich is the one who has been writing the "Parks are safe" letters for 6 years now. They are NOT empowered to make any kind of change, only executive management level Assistant Secretaries & Secretaries are able to help.

Also, EVEN if your rep / Senators are Anti, get them engaged anyway.
This is an issue of states rights, and one of administrative process or more accurately administrative process abuse. Tell them to call
David Verhey, the Acting Assistant Sec'y of Fish, Wildlife & Parks at (202) 208-5347.

Advise them to relay that their constituents want VCDL's petition to amend the weapons rules approved and published in the Federal Register.

 

[6_gunner]

I just e-mailed Kempthorne and my state representatives.

I've been hot under the collar over the denial of my right to self-defense at national parks for a long time. Let's keep this up and make our voices heard!

 

[ZeSpectre]

Bump. Anyone feel like writing a letter today

 

[Smurfslayer]

VA guys

Any readers here who are Virginia citizens - would you be available to go to Capitol Hill (for a meeting)?

I don't know any specifics but it could help to show support...

 

[ZeSpectre]

Details please

 

[Smurfslayer]

I will PM Ze.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Bump for an important issue.

 

[Smurfslayer]

Awaiting the resubmitted / appealed FOIA. Once we have the info we need, it should be fairly easy to substantiate their claims are bogus. We'll get nothing out of Congress close to Easter, but this is a good reminder that we need to keep this issue ripe.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Long update, sorry but there's so much to add!

Another bump with some additional info and suggested actions from the VCDL.

There's a certain irony that we can't protect ourselves in a national park and at the same time the number of park police continues to decline...Park Police staffing at a new low.

By Daniel Taylor
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 5, 2007


The number of sworn officers in the U.S. Park Police has dropped to its lowest level in nearly 20 years, a watchdog group said yesterday.

There are 588 officers serving with the agency, according to a recent report prepared by Chief Dwight E. Pettiford and obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The agency has lost another officer since then, the group said.

That's the lowest total since 1988, and more than 200 officers below the level of about 800 recommended by a study in 2001.

Park Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Lachance declined to confirm or deny the figures, saying he would not comment on staffing numbers. The report comes a little more than a month after a survey of Park Police officers showed that 97 percent of those who responded lacked confidence in Chief Pettiford and 98 percent do not think the agency is as prepared as others to respond to a terrorist attack.

Staffing issues have long plagued the agency. Former Chief Teresa C. Chambers, who was fired after making public statements in December 2003 about the lack of employees and resources, told The Washington Times that she was "not surprised" to hear that the agency had reached a new low. Park Police lack the visibility needed to get funding in Congress that other agencies, such as the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are able to get, she said.

"I believe one of the biggest problems the Park Police chief faces is that they have no real voice in Congress," she said. "I think that's my biggest frustration, that nobody was listening. "But if something had happened to one of the monuments or memorials or there had been injury to a large number of visitors, certainly Congress would have a hearing at that time," she said.

She said "a long history of insufficient staffing" contributed to the 2002 death of Officer Hakim Farthing, who was struck by a drunken driver while trying on foot to secure an accident scene on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Mrs. Chambers said Officer Farthing was killed because of an inadequate number of officers and police cars.

In July, officials with the Park Police, the country's oldest uniformed federal police agency, said funding problems forced them to cancel several important programs, including cadet training classes. Earlier this year, the chairman of the union that represents Park Police officers said the lack of funding had resulted in vehicles too broken and dangerous to drive. Though no officer had been hurt or killed as a result of the shortfalls, "it is just a matter of time" before such an incident occurs, said James Austin of the Fraternal Order of Police.

The agency provides foot, mounted, marine and air patrols to protect the Mall, Rock Creek and Anacostia parks, the Baltimore-Washington and George Washington Memorial parkways and dozens of parks in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Officers also provides escort to Vice President Dick Cheney.

So now that we know the park police are even less likely to be available when needed perhaps we should push for self-reliance?

Tips from the VCDL for action...

1. CALL the DOI Legislative Affairs and leave a message for the
Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne.

Say something like this:

"I encourage Secretary Kempthorne to implement the Virginia Citizens
Defense League's Petition for Rule Making that the National Park
Service has rejected out-of-hand. Law-abiding citizens should be
allowed to protect themselves and their families while visiting a
National Park."

PLEASE MAKE THAT CALL - WE WANT DOI'S TELEPHONE LINE LIT UP BIG TIME!

Mr. Kempthorne's telephone number in Washington, DC is: 202-208-7351.

DO **NOT** LET THE OPERATOR DIVERT YOUR CALL TO THE NATIONAL PARK
SERVICE! It is the Department of the Interior that you want to
communicate with!

********

2. Call your U.S. Senators and Congressman. Their names, phone
numbers and email addresses can be found by clicking here and
entering your zip and address:

http://capwiz.com/nra/officials/congress

Say something like this:

"Please have the Senator [Congressman] contact the Department of the
Interior's Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, and ask him to overturn the
National Park Service's rejection of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League's Petition for Rule Making. Law-abiding citizens should be
allowed to carry a handgun to defend themselves while visiting a
National Park if the state in which the park is located allows such
carry!"

PLEASE MAKE THAT CALL - WE WANT CONGRESS' TELEPHONE LINES TO LIGHT UP
AS BRIGHTLY AS DOI'S!

********

3. After calling your Senators and Congressman, follow up with an email.

Here is a sample email you can use:

Please ask the Department of the Interior's Secretary, Dirk
Kempthorne, to overturn the National Park Service's arbitrary
rejection of the Virginia Citizens Defense League's Petition for Rule
Making and to implement that petition!

VCDL's Petition for Rule Making, representing over ONE MILLION gun
owners, would allow law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun for
self-defense in a National Park as long as the state in which that
National Park is located allows such carry.

The National Park Service's rejection letter was not only asinine,
but condescending towards America's gun owners.

My family members and I are given but one life each. I ask that you
make sure that I can defend those lives while visiting a National
Park!

Please let me know what you are going to do.

********

4. After calling and leaving a message for DOI, follow up with an
email to Secretary Kempthorne:

Email address:

[email protected]

Suggested email subject:

Please approve VCDL's Petition for Rule Making!

Suggested email text:

Dear Secretary Kempthorne,

I ask that you approve and implement the Virginia Citizens Defense
League's (VCDL) Petition for Rule Making that would allow a
law-abiding citizen to carry a handgun for self-defense in a National
Park as long the state in which the park is located allows such carry.

The National Park Service sent a rejection letter to VCDL listing
four very poor reasons for the rejection. None of the reasons listed
legitimately justifies denying a person the right to defend the only
life they have been given.

The Petition, representing over ONE MILLION gun owners, was basically
rejected out-of-hand.

Please let me know what the Department of the Interior is going to do
regarding this matter.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]

 

[LAR-15]

Will do.

 

[Smurfslayer]

focus on Congress

Calls to DOI are wasted breath right now.

Focus on your congressional delegation. It's critical that you get time with a staff member that will actually do something so make sure you're speaking with either thair parks or 2nd amendment guy. Get a committment to speak again, and follow up.

 

[LAR-15]

Let me echo this.

Ask to speak to the staffer that deals with gun issues.

 

[TexasRifleman]

So this has been going on for quite a long time.

I've called and emailed my reps and everyhting else but there seems to be no movement to this.

Any changes expected soon or is it totally up in the air?

 

[Smurfslayer]

You can call and try to (futile, but just to say we did it) get NRA-ILA to sign on as a co-petitioner. Their support would be helpful, and the additional publicity they could bring to the effort would really make the job of getting the word out a lot easier.

We've already heard the "working behind the scenes" on this statement, but strangely enough nobody on Capitol Hill will go on record as hearing from them about the NPS ban repeal... At least the current petitioners don't know of any "behind the scenes" effort... Or any front scene efforts. What we need now is some inter-pro-rights-organization cooperation and effort.

Spread the word a little. Don't just rely on the internet to get the word out on this. Get your shooting buddies involved, your local range, gun shop etc. The more pressure gets put on the elected delegations, the more responsive they're going to be.

HTH

 

[ZeSpectre]

So this has been going on for quite a long time.
I've called and emailed my reps and everyhting else but there seems to be no movement to this.
Any changes expected soon or is it totally up in the air?

I think we're into seige mentality here. They are hoping we'll just go away and we're not giving up. I have confidence that if we keep the pressure on we will get (another) break before long simply because summer is coming up and something ALWAYS happens in the parks over the summer.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Bump - Let's try to keep a steady pressure on this if we can. We're trying to wear them down and it will take time and effort (please see post #60)

Thanks Everyone!

 

[ZeSpectre]

Bump - Same as before... let's try to keep the pressure on Dept of Interior!
Thanks
Ze

 

[LAR-15]

Good deal

 

[LAR-15]

Called again.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Bump time again.
My recent call got transferred (in spite of my best efforts) to Karen Taylor-Goodrich's office where they were quite dismissive of me though stopping short of actually being rude.

Will be reporting the entire thing in an email and snailmail to Mr. Kempthorne's office at DOI.

Strangely enough I heard a rumor that we may have Gordon Wissinger, Chief Ranger at Shenandoah National Park on our side. This is UNCONFIRMED so please don't bug the man about it until I can find out more.

 

[obxned]

Sensible action by the peolpe will come to nothing. Remember the Nike slogon, "Just Do It"!

 

[LAR-15]

That woman should be canned.

 

[Smurfslayer]

Need help guys!

I know a few of you have been ticketed for possessing a firearm on
National Park land and at least one has had a gun confiscated by the
National Park service.

If you, or someone you know, has had such a thing happen, please send
me an email at [email protected] or call me at 804-639-0600 as soon
as possible.

Please x-post to as many venues as you can.

BTW, I am still awaiting my FOIA (hopefully final) response. I agreed to pay, in writing at their request, and confirmed they received my agreement to pay so the next step should be to render payment, get results.

Please help if you can.

 

[LAK Supply]

Any updates on this.....any info at all?

I was just asking about this in another forum a few days back..... thought I'd seen it in there. No wonder nobody knew what I was talking about!