HR 5646: Make National Park Carry Permanent

[WayneConrad]

This is a parallel effort to the administrative rule we are all writing letters to support. Write those letters, but write this letter, too.

This is H.R. 5646, Rep. Paul Broun's bill to make it law, not an administrative rule. By getting this bill passed into law, we can keep the next administration from changing the rule and making carry in parks illegal once again. Also, Rep. Broun's bill does not require concealed carry. Please take the time to ask your representative to co-sign H.R. 5646.

Here is the alert from gunowners.org:

Carrying Guns Soon To Be Legal In National Parks
-- But your help is needed to make sure the right is permanently recognized

Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
(703)321-8585
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Bush administration, after more than seven years, has finally issued regulations permitting the carrying of firearms in national parks. Gun owners will soon be able to carry firearms according to the laws of the state in which the park is located.

While not perfect, the proposed regulations, which are likely to take effect at the end of June 2008, represent a sharp contrast with the steadfast refusal to allow for self-defense in national parks.

The bureaucrats responded after a crescendo of congressional activity. Senator Tom Coburn has made efforts to put the matter before the Senate, and would have done so had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid not broken his word to Coburn to allow him to have a vote on the measure. Also, 47 Senators signed a letter to the Department of the Interior urging that the ban be removed.

In the House, there are now three bills that would open national parks to carrying firearms as regulated by the state in which the park is located.

The most recent bill, and the most comprehensive, is that of GOA Life Member Paul Broun (R-GA), who was elected to Congress in July of last year. Rep. Broun has introduced HR 5646, the "Protecting the Second Amendment and Hunting Rights on Federal Lands Act of 2008."

This is not the time to slack off on our efforts. If congressional activity got the Park Service bureaucrats to finally move, we need to keep the heat on. We need to make sure they follow through.

Moreover, legislation is the more sure way of keeping concealed carry "on the books." Regulations could be changed the first day an anti-gun president takes office.

Finally, Rep. Broun's legislation would go even further than the proposed National Parks regulations. As we mentioned above, they are not perfect. Among other things, it’s not clear (in the proposed regs) whether or not an individual will be able to engage in open carry on national park lands for the purpose of self-defense. That would not even be questioned under the Broun bill.

So with all this in mind, we urge you to send an email to your representative urging him to cosponsor Rep. Broun's bill, HR 5646.

ACTION: Please urge your Representative to cosponsor HR 5646. You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Representative the pre-written e-mail message below. And, you can call your Representative at 202-225-3121or toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Representative:

I urge you to cosponsor Rep. Paul Broun's bill, H.R. 5646, which protects the Second Amendment rights of individuals to carry firearms and ammunition in units of the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge System. It also requires that hunting activities be a land use in all management plans for Federal land to the extent that such use is not clearly incompatible with the purposes for which the Federal land is managed.

Now that the Park Service has finally recognized that this is a good idea, there is no reason not to enact this into federal law so that the next president could not once again make it illegal to protect oneself with a gun in a national park.

Please let me know when you have cosponsored Rep. Broun's bill. Gun Owners of America will be keeping me posted.

Sincerely,

 

[WayneConrad]

Here is the GOA page which will send email to your representative for you. It doesn't get any easier than this. Put in your ZIP code, it looks up who your representative is, creates a letter for you to edit, and then sends it for you.

email your representative about HR 5646

 

[ilbob]

If the SCOTUS upholds Heller, especially if they use strict scrutiny as the rule, it may well mean that most restrictions on carrying of firearms on federal lands will be stricken.

 

[WayneConrad]

If so, it won't happen with the stroke of a pen. It'll take even more activism and court cases, and time and money for that to happen. Don't put all of yer eggs in one basket.

 

[Yellowfin]

It's going to be an interesting conversation when I call my congress critters on this one.

 

[nicki]

National issues

The Heller case and the Recent Cal Supreme court ruling upholding Gay marriage will make the social values of God, Guns and Gays a national issue.

Most Congress people will want to appear to uphold traditional Ameircan values.

For those in areas where these values mean something, especially if someone claims to support Ameican values, now is the time to turn the heat on.

Union leaders probably hate gun control and perhsps they can help with Deomcrats in pro gun areas to make sure they do the right thing.

Nicki

 

[WayneConrad]

Uh, OK. Let's stick to the activism at hand, please. Have you written your representative and asked him or her to cosign this bill?

 

[Orange_Magnum]

I put in a short note saying that the law makers must adhere to the Constitution.

 

[VPLthrneck]

Just sent Congressman Rehburg the e-mail from GOA. I did a little personalization to it, added the fact that campers and hikers need access to protection when they get out into the back-country of the parks and the Park Rangers are not available everywhere to provide such.

 

[H088]

Some people are arguing its stealth bill to allow people to hunt in the parks, even if thats not its intended purpose I am sure that may happen.

I would be for it if it said people with CCW can take Handguns for self defense but allowing people to carry hunting rifles will lead to hunting.

I am all for the right to carry, but I can see how this law could be abused

 

[starshooter231]

Just sent Dave Camp an email from GOA

 

[George C Morrison]

Uh, OK. Let's stick to the activism at hand, please. Have you written your representative and asked him or her to cosign this bill?

Yes Wayne.My Congresswoman ,Ileana Ros-Lehtinen(R-FL) has received my letter and has already returned a seemingly favorably response in favor of NPS carry.
We shall see.Thank you for pushing this effort so strongly.It's something that we need very much and will certainly save lives in the bargain.
18th District Floridians can reach her here:

http://www.house.gov/ros-lehtinen/newsroom.shtml

 

[Picard]

Thanks for the link. I sent out an email. I will encourage others to do the same.

 

[Picard]

If hunting is illegal now, whats stopping them from doing it? I don't see how this law can introduce hunting, since it is already banned and it would not be introduced by this law. People hunt with handguns too, but I'm sure that hunting won't be any more of a problem with this bill than previously.