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Assault Rifles Over the Grand Canyon

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees notes visitors may soon be experiencing watching Old Faithful in Yellowstone in the company of park visitors wearing holsters and handguns.

As this is the LASN Park’s issue, we thought you might want to know this news about our greatest parks—our national parks.
Visitors to national parks have been allowed to bring in guns if they are stored out of reach and not loaded. That changes beginning February 22, 2010 when people can possess firearms in national parks consistent with the laws of the state in which the park is located.

The new law was an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and, under the inexplicable and mysterious meanderings of Congress, was appended to the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009. The amendment was to allow people to openly carry rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic weapons in national parks if the firearm was in compliance with state law. The Senate passed the amendment by a vote of 67-29. President Obama signed the bill into law in May 2009.

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) notes visitors may soon be visiting Gettysburg National Military Battlefield in Pennsylvania and encounter other visitors carrying rifles, and not the historic kind; that at Wolf Trap National Park in Virginia, because of permissive state gun laws, you may witness people carrying firearms in the lawn seating area; that when visiting the Grand Canyon, given Arizona’s permissive gun laws, you may be enjoying the view of the canyon along with a visitor with an assault rifle slung on his shoulder.

Note: Mississippi senators voted Feb. 10, 2010 to join Tennessee in allowing handgun-permit holders to carry their guns in most Mississippi parks, bars and unsecured government buildings unless the owners of those facilities post notices barring guns.

Give us your feedback.

Comments

Name: Shelby J Lewicki	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: This is the most OUTRAGEOUS law I've ever heard of!!! You can be sure I'm writing President Obama and the nitwit who proposed these changes! Guns on park visitors have no place in our national parks - PERIOD! What is the point if the guns are not loaded and safely stored? There's no reason to have guns (loaded or unloaded) in any of our national parks!

Name: David Conn	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: ...."There I was,pinned down by a deadly hail of tourist fire,frantically radioing for air support,or a least a tank."

Name: BRENDAN LYNCH	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: The paranoid tone of this article beginning with the intro and right through the body beg the question: Have you ever read the Constiturion of the U.S.? The "inexplicable and mysterious meanderings of Congress..", "permissive state gun laws", "given Arizona’s permissive gun laws", "with a visitor with an assault rifle slung on his shoulder". Oh, my, civilization as we know it is surely coming to an end (actually, it may be - due in no small part to people like yourself). Actually, if you think about it (less some of your inexplicable paranoria) you should feel much safer with law-abiding people carrying firearms in public. Have you never read any of the research on this issue? Wake up, littla fella!! Respectfully (author's response would be welcome), Brendan Lynch

Name: Craig Ritland	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: I believe this is a good change to the existing law that could be easily, unintentionally broken by people used to arrying firearms in their vehicles whether hunters. collectors,or other lawbiding citizens. Craig Mathews, a fly shop owner,author and past police chief for west Yellowstone, Montana recently told an audience of flyfishing enthusiasts this is a change he would favor. I took offence to the biased way your article was presented.

Name: Alex Rozanski	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: The CNPSR is making some very far fetched predictions. It's obvious to see what side of the isle the politics of this group of retired bureaucrats lies. It makes perfect sense to me and any other reasonable person that state laws should apply to all lands within that state regardless of whether or not the federal government owns it or not. Remember that the nation is beholden to the states, not the other way around. Thank you Sen. Coburn for fighting to restore states rights and our second amendment freedoms.

Name: Matthew Mueller	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: Seems the author of the article is offended by this option. This is really nothing more than the 1st Ammendment right of every American. The right to bear arms has been with us since the beginning of our great nation. Thank God we are not being stripped of our rights. The law abiding citizens carrying guns should not be our concern, they may actually save our lives if some terrorist showed up at a national park in a shooting frenzy.

Name: Richard Metzinger	Wrote in with general comment
Comment: This is an absolute abomination and an insult to the memory of those who were responsible for creating our national parks. Why in the world is it necessary to have an assault weapon hiking or camping in the Grand Canyon or a hand gun strapped to your shoulder or waist while you are watching a performance at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts? These cherished sites were set aside and intended for everyone to enjoy, while we ponder the wonders of nature, relax and vacation with families and friends, and refresh our bodies and minds and thereby relieve some of the worry and stress that accumulates from our daily lives. What were the members of congress thinking? Shame on all of them for kowtowing to the gun lobbies and bullies of the NRA! Until the day this law is appealed and rescinded, my wife and I will never visit another national park, national monument, national historical site or national recreational area. For no longer will we ever feel safe or welcome.

February 7, 2012, 2:32 pm