Comment period for NPS proposed rules extended to 7/30.

[Avenger29]

Uh the person pushing this is Dirk Kempthorne, former governor of Idaho and current head over the National Park Service, ect.

The director of NPS is Mary Bomar. She's English, so I canpractically guarantee that she is against CCW in the NPS. Dirk Kempthorne is the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, the head agency of the NPS.

I'll tell you something about the NPS...law enforcement rangers are far and few between, especially at the smaller parks. So we employees don't have any protection, either...you visitors only have to be at the park for a few hours or however long your visit is...I'm at work w/o a gun at all, and I do it all day long. I am also at the most risk because I come into contact with a lot more visitors than you would...and many of them don't have a full six pack, if you know what I mean. I also can't effectively conceal a weapon due to the uniform...

 

[Craig_AR]

Comment Period extended again, to August 8, 2008

The NPS has continued their stalling tactic, and moved the comment period out farther by a week, to August 8, 2008.

Relevant web pages are
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-15614.htm
for basic information,
and http://tinyurl.com/6nab9n for
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FWS-R9-NSR-2008-0062
to get to the link allowing you to comment and see other comments.

I just submitted the following comment:
---------------
With regard to the proposal to amend regulations presently codified in 36 CFR part 2 and 50 CFR part 27, RIN 1024-AD70:
I am writing to express my full support for changes to the National Park System regulations that will bring Park regulations into alignment with state laws concerning possession of concealed firearms. There is extensive, solidly confirmed statistical evidence that such a change will enhance the safety of all visitors in the National Parks. Multiple publications by Professor John Lott demonstrate that jurisdictions allowing concealed carry of fire arms show a reduction in violent crime such as assault, murder, and rape. Predictions of increases in violence when concealed carry of firearms is allowed have not only not been borne out in ANY state that changed their laws on the matter, but in fact have been proven totally inaccurate.
Further, Professor Lott's and others' analysis of nationwide statistics show that that portion of the population who choose to meet state law requirements to obtain permits or licenses for concealed carry of firearms are as a group a much more law-abiding subset than the general population. By making it legal for this self-selecting group of law abiding gun owners to carry defensive fire arms in the parks, the regulations will increase the personal safety of those individuals and all Park visitors.
I urge the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to modernize and improve the General Regulations a quickly as possible to bring those regulations into full alignment with the laws of each state on legal carry of concealed firearms.

Thank you.

================

craig

 

[Oro]

Craig,

That is a well written and succinct posting. I would strongly urge people to also address the flaws in the proposed regulations, which is that the request by the senators and Sec. Kempthorne to make the laws reflect the prevailing state laws was not met. They decided to completely omit open carry in those states that allow it. I can only surmise this was done to discourage the carrying of long arms and of handguns openly so as to make it more uncomfortable and thus dissuade the public from exercising their natural rights.

The original charge from the Secretary was quite clear that the laws should conform to state laws, and not make further restrictions, which the proposed regulations do. Here is the text of the promises made to the Senate by Secretary Kempthorne, and we need to hold him to it. See in particular paragraph four, which makes no discrimination between concealed and open carry, but simply makes the charge to make the NPS policy analogous to state policy on similar lands.

http://www.nraila.org/pdfs/KempthorneRTC.pdf

I also sympathize with Avenger29's posting and am glad he/she put it up. It ads more dimension to the problem and makes it personal. She (Mary Bomar) is the one who gave the big "FU" to congress a few years ago and got it made into a cabinet-level action as it is now. Her contempt for legislators is despicable. That she is English is news to me. Is that true? (or rather, I don't doubt you, but do you have more details?)

 

[Avenger29]

Yeah, she's English. Wikipedia says she was raised in Leicester, England and became a US Citizen in 1977. She was nominated in '06 for the director's position. She served as a superintendent in a couple of parks (Oklahoma City National Memorial and Independence National Historic Park).

And I'm a he, btw.

I have tried to convince my colleagues that CCW is a good thing, but they ain't biting.

The NPS is a heavily bureaucratic system, and will remain entrenched in the old ways even when the law changes. Expect that even if this is pushed through, that there will be problems with dealing with NPS LEOs and such. I'm not going to call the police on you or have you arrested, but others will try to.

 

[PurplePeopleEater]

At all of the national parks and monuments I have visited in the past year (and I have visited at least a dozen) I have seen law enforcement rangers on a half-dozen occasions, and then only when they were heading code 3 from problem to problem.

Only ONE time have I ever run into a backcountry ranger, and he wasn't even armed. In terms of density per square mile, the national parks are absolutely the LEAST patrolled areas of our country. And good luck getting cell phone reception if you DO need help!

The idea that Yosemite, Smoky Mountains, or the Everglades are pristine, sunshine rainbow and lollipop places where everyone hugs out their problems is ridiculous.

I have always believed that the restriction on guns in national parks was the most ass-backwards policy that the government has ever come up with.

 

[Avenger29]

Only ONE time have I ever run into a backcountry ranger, and he wasn't even armed

The fact that I am unarmed is the reason that I limit my backcountry patrols whenever possible...

 

[Beagle-zebub]

Right now they are trying to cause a huge jump in the crime rate in the parks over the coming years so they can get the new regs rescinded if we do manage to get them passed.

Am I the only person who followed the supplied link?

 

[Joe Cool]

I also posted my support there - Thank You Craig_VA for the link!

 

[io333]

Once again we have a tyrannical brit attempting to deny us our inalienable rights. Someone might want to fax her a copy of the Declaration of Independence and point out that her side lost that war.