DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR - National Park Carry Update

[larrymeyer]

Information provided by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL).


Pressure on the Department of the Interior (DOI) to change the rules in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges to allow law-abiding gun owners to carry guns for self-defense has just increased dramatically!

**Forty-seven** Senators have co-signed a letter from Senator Mike Crapo to Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) asking DOI to allow state law to determine if guns can be carried in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges in that state!

The letter (and a link to the PDF version of the letter) is below.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb signed the letter. Senator John Warner, as usual, was no where to be found. (Neither PA Senator signed the letter)

The NRA was apparently instrumental in getting this letter generated - good job. Now we need to help make this actually happen.

ACTION ITEMS:

We need to contact Senator Specter & Casey and urge them to let DOI know that they, too, support Senator Crapo's efforts.

Contact Info:
Casey, Robert P., Jr.- (D - PA)
383 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6324
Web Form: casey.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Specter, Arlen- (R - PA)
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4254
Web Form: specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home

Subject - select "Second Amendment"

Suggested message:

I urge you to send a letter to the Department of the Interior supporting the efforts of Senator Crapo and 46 other Senators to allow state law to determine if law-abiding citizens can carry a firearm for self-defense while visiting National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. The right for a citizen to defend himself is both Constitutionally protected and is not negotiable.

Please let me know what you are going to do.

--

Here is a link to the letter and the text of the letter:

http://www.nraila.org/Media/PDFs/kempthorne_ltr.pdf

United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510

December 14, 2007

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW.
Washington DC 20240

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

We write today concerning a longstanding effort to have the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service remove their prohibitions on law-abiding citizens from transporting and carrying firearms on lands managed by these agencies.
We appeal to you on this matter in the interest of Second Amendment rights and consistency in
firearms policy across federal public land management agencies.

As you know, 36 CFR 2.4, applicable to the National Park Service, and 50 CFR 27.42, applicable to the Fish and Wildlife Service, prohibits individuals from possessing a firearm on lands managed by those agencies - even citizens with valid concealed weapons permits.

These regulations infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners, who wish to transport and carry firearms on or across these lands. Also, you will note that other federal land management agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service allow transporting and carrying of firearms on these lands in accordance with the laws of the host state. These inconsistencies in firearms regulations for public lands are confusing, burdensome, and unnecessary.

For these reasons, we support an exception to 36 CFR 2.4 and 50 CFR 27.42 to allow law-abiding citizens to transport and carry firearms consistent with state law where the National Park Service's sites and the National Wildlife Refuges are located. Such regulatory changes would respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, while providing a consistent application of state weapons laws across all land ownership boundaries.

We appreciate the opportunity to share our concerns with you. Please treat this letter in
conformance with all applicable procedural rules and ethical guidelines.

Sincerely,

Senator Mike Crapo

Senator Max Baucus

Senator Larry Craig

Senator Tim Johnson

Senator Jim Inhofe

Senator Jon Tester

Senator David Vitter

Senator Mark Pryor

Senator Gordon Smith

Senator Blanche Lincoln

Senator Orrin Hatch

Senator Byron Dorgan

Senator Norm Coleman

Senator Ben Nelson

Senator Tom Coburn

Senator Jim Webb

Senator Judd Gregg

Senator Lisa Murkowski

Senator John Ensign

Senator John Sununu

Senator Ted Stevens

Senator Robert Bennett

Senator Saxby Chambliss

Senator Thad Cochran

Senator Johnny Isakson

Senator John Bunning

Senator Wayne Allard

Senator John Thune

Senator Chuck Grassley

Senator Bob Corker

Senator Trent Lott

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Senator Pat Roberts

Senator Mel Martinez

Senator John Cornyn

Senator Richard Shelby

Senator Chuck Hagel

Senator Lindsey Graham

Senator Elizabeth Dole

Senator Mike Enzi

Senator John McCain

Senator John Barrasso

Senator Sam Brownback

Senator Pete Domenici

Senitor Jim DeMint

Senator Jeff Sessions

Senator Jon Kyl

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************************************************** *************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org

[ChamberedRound]

I understand this is a narrow-minded view, but:

If state law determines how to carry in National Parks, then it's likely that no one will be able to carry in National Parks in PA, as there is currently no carry allowed in PA State Parks.

[CoyoteJack]

Originally Posted by ChamberedRound

I understand this is a narrow-minded view, but:

If state law determines how to carry in National Parks, then it's likely that no one will be able to carry in National Parks in PA, as there is currently no carry allowed in PA State Parks.

True but if changed on the National level maybe the states like PA will change as well.

[ChamberedRound]

Originally Posted by CoyoteJack

True but if changed on the National level maybe the states like PA will change as well.

The only change on the national level being discussed is to allow the states to decide what to do themselves. If that happens, there's no saying that PA is going to change their current policies just because other states are doing something different. With that said, I'll admit that there's no guarantee that PA will do just do the same as they do with the state parks, or that they won't change the policies statewide.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: Moving this thread to the Law & Politics->National forum.

[Sebastian]

Originally Posted by ChamberedRound

The only change on the national level being discussed is to allow the states to decide what to do themselves. If that happens, there's no saying that PA is going to change their current policies just because other states are doing something different. With that said, I'll admit that there's no guarantee that PA will do just do the same as they do with the state parks, or that they won't change the policies statewide.

If the federal policy changes to revert to state law in regards to carry in a National Park, you will be able to carry in National Parks in Pennsylvania (though not in visitors centers, or probably even a restroom, those are federal facilities, and are regulated under USC Title 18, Chapter 44). Carry in state parks in Pennsylvania, strictly speaking, is not prohibited by the Uniform Firearms Act, it's just that the DEP has asserted that it can maintain its rules on firearms under their authority to administer and set rules for the parks under its authority. This authority, to the best of my knowledge, has never been challenged in court as applied to LTCF holders. Even so, getting caught carrying in a state park is going to result in a summary offense at most, meaning a fine, and ejection from the park.

There is no blanket rule about not being able to carry in parks in Pennsylvania. County parks are fine, local parks are fine. National Forests are fine.

[theshadow]

I have to agree with the others, Let's get the National Parks rules changed, it's a foot in the door. As long as Sick (forget the Slick) Eddie is in the Cat Bird seat, we'll never get the Administrative rules changed at the state level, but IF this Federal rule changes, after we get rid of the socialist, anti-American in charge, we have a chance of killing two birds with one stone.

On a side note, I'm not surprised to see our "representatives" not representing the will of the people.

[Zef_66]

Currently, is there a law on the books in PA prohibiting the carry of firearms in National Parks? My reason to ask is this proposed legislation would just allow someone licensed by their state (or reciprocal state) to carry a firearm following the rules of that state.

So if this legislation passes, and there are no laws on the books prohibiting carry in National Parks in Pennsylvania, then it would be legal, correct?

Am I missing something here?

[Sebastian]

Your not. If National Parks revert to state law, you will be allowed to carry in them in Pennsylvania. There are some states, like FL and TN that specifically have that prohibition in their law, and it will have to be repealed in that instance.

[theshadow]

Originally Posted by Sebastian

Your not. If National Parks revert to state law, you will be allowed to carry in them in Pennsylvania. There are some states, like FL and TN that specifically have that prohibition in their law, and it will have to be repealed in that instance.

Good point I overlooked till this was brought up. Since the Prohibition of firearms in State Parks is a DNC Regulation, it carries no weight in National Parks, as they will still not be under the DNC control, and would remain a separate entity. Which means it's a carry zone.