Right to Carry in National Parks

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Smity

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All,
I know that many of you are already aware of the details, so I will summarize:
On January 9th, President Bush approved a change to the NPS (National Park System laws to allow concealed carry in national parks.
On March 29th, the Brady Commission filed for an injunction to reverse the new law on the grounds that a "proper environmental impact study had not been completed." The NRA immediately filed an appeal.
On April 2, a coalition of Republican and Democrat Senators submitted a bill to again allow concealed carry in National Parks.

It's time to weigh in. The best way I have found to do this at the federal level is through the following web site: http://capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/
You can enter your zip code and send an email to the President, your Senators and Representatives all at the same time. I was impressed with the format and how it looked. It is connected with NRA-ILA, but you do not have to be a member, and I did not see any logo on the emails themselves.

Feel free to borrow the following text:

I support the right to carry a handgun for self defense in our nation's parks and wild life refuges. Please reinstate this policy immediately and expand it to include national parks and wildlife refuges in all states. This is essential for law abiding citizens to safely enjoy these areas without fear. Thank you.

If you were wondering how important this is, here are some of the details:

The NPS controls a total of 84.6 million acres of land.
8,505 Monuments and Statues
680 Water Treatment and Wastewater Collection Systems
5,300 Family Housing Units
505 Dams
1,804 Bridges and Tunnels
7,580 Buildings
8,500 Miles of roads and parkways
12,250 Miles of Unpaved Trails

...and that is just a partial list. For a complete list go to:http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/quickfacts.htm

This is 3.6%, yes that's 3.6%, of the entire United States and don't get caught on one of those 8,500 miles of roads, like the GW Parkway in Virginia.

If you decide to send an email (it is very quick and simple) please post when you are done. This is the 9th forum that I have posted this on (and still looking for others) and I come back to each one as often as I can to report the totals. So far we have 71 emails sent.

Thanks for your help!

Smity
 
The thing about this that continues to bother me is that, if this was so darn important, which did Bush wait until the absolute end of his 8 years in office to issue his executive order? Sort of feels like something Clinton would have done.
 
Please don't make a mistake that ex-Pres Bush signed an executive order or the rule change associated with the Department of the Interior regulations change. This was a DOI Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) rule change and was signed after review by the DOI Secretary and does not require Presidential approval. The problem was that the DOI issued a finding of no significant impact with regard to environmental effects. The challenge is that the finding does not consider all of the environmental effects that might occur as a result of park visitors carrying concealed weapons. The DOI has to either: go back to the court and prove the finding of no environmental effects is adequate; or, go straight into completing an environmental assessment (EA) (or don't waste any more probable court challenges, and just complete a full environmental impact statement (EIS)). Either way, don't expect rapid results.
 
That's terrific early support. Thanks!
The total number of people that have sent emails is now 74.

My goal here is to focus as much effort on this one issue as we possibly can. If we can somehow harness support from all shooting/gun/ccw forums at the same time on the critical issues at the critical time, we can make a difference. Right now, the National Parks issue is in the courts and it is in a bill in Congress. This is a critical issue at the critical moment.

Smity
 
if this was so darn important, which did Bush wait until the absolute end of his 8 years in office to issue his executive order?
Click to expand...

Bush had nothing to do with it. It was started by several western Senators and it was through the US Senate that the change was made. It was the Reagan administration, FYI, that put the ban in place. Don't think that Republican presidents help the gun issues - they usually just "do no harm" - but they certainly don't really "help."
 
That's very interesting about this all starting with the Reagan Administration. There was a Democratically controlled Congress back then. Was this one of those Reagan, Tip O'Neil things? Who was pushing for it?

Smity
 
I emailed all four and sent the link and sample letter to two of my friends requesting them to do it also.
 
I am humbled to report that the total number of people who have sent emails is now 83, many of whom have sent up to 4 emails to multiple elected officials. This means that hundreds of emails have been sent.

Thanks for the fantastic response.

I will continue to post the totals as long as they keep going up.

Smity
 
Total number of people that have sent emails is now 93 across 11 forums.

I had no idea...

Smity
 
Where does this stand now?

I can't figure out where this ruling stands as of now. Is it presently legal to carry in a national park?

Thanks.
 
anyone who gets attacked ,by animal or human predator in a national park, while unarmed due to the law,ought to sue the hell out of the Government and the Park Services.
 
Fox News just reported (05/12/09 18:16 hrs EDT) that an add-on to a credit bill in the Senate held a provision for ccw carry in National Parks, and that the provision Passed the Senate. Sen Dodd stated that the provision was not fought as the primary portion of the bill did not need to be de-railed, and that perhaps with negotiations with the House, the provision for CCW carry in National Parks would be removed.

(I hope I correctly heard this and am sending proper information)

LD
 
I believe you did:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/12/senate-backs-allowing-loaded-guns-national-parks/

WASHINGTON -- The Senate has approved a measure that would allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma sponsored the amendment, which would restore a Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks.

A federal judge blocked the policy in March. The Obama administration said it would not appeal the ruling. The gun amendment was attached to a bill imposing restrictions on credit card companies. The amendment was approved 67-29.
Click to expand...
 
It's true! A bill has passed in the Senate! This is happening right now! Read this and get everyone you can to email the President and your Congressmen using http://capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/

This still has to pass in the House and be signed by the President!
_______________________________________________________________________
http://washingtonindependent.com/42641/senate-approves-coburn-gun-amendment

or http://gunowners.org/

Senate Approves Coburn Gun Amendment…in Credit Card Bill
By Mike Lillis 5/12/09 6:44 PM

The Senate on Tuesday night easily passed an amendment to credit card reform legislation that would allow concealed weapons in national parks. The vote was 67 to 29.

The question now is this: Will a controversial gun proposal attached to popular underlying legislation be the poison pill that sinks that larger bill? That’s been the case with legislation allowing the District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress, to which the Senate attached language scrapping many of Washington’s strict gun control laws. As a result of that gun amendment, the DC-vote bill remains stalled in the House months after it passed the upper chamber.

Now, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the chief sponsor of the credit card reform bill, is wondering whether the same might be the fate of his credit card proposal. “My concern is about what the underlying bill — what happens to it,” Dodd said on the chamber floor just before the vote. “I hate to see us lose this opportunity to make a difference with credit card reform.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who sponsored the concealed weapons bill, said he supports many of Dodd’s credit card provisions, and didn’t have in mind to offer his amendment just for the purpose of killing the larger bill. “I don’t want to see it fail on this,” Coburn said. “But nor do I want to see the Second Amendment trampled on.”

So much for an easy, clean, must-pass credit card reform bill.
_________________________________________________________________


Smity
 
Well lets keep our fingers crossed.
I really wanted to do some camping, hiking
and driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer.
But as it stands now, I can't unless I want to be a felon.
I'm NOT going into the nation forest areas unarmed.
 
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