BigHornRam
Well-known member
They must not be fans of bear spray either. It will make it easier for me to cut through the Park on the way to find my Mountain Goat next year, too!
Baucus, Tester press for loosening gun laws in parks, refuges
By NOELLE STRAUB of the Missoulian D.C. Bureau
WASHINGTON - Montana Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are pushing to allow gun owners to carry their firearms into all national parks and wildlife refuges.
The pair signed a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Friday asking him to lift restrictions that prevent citizens from carrying their readily accessible firearms onto lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Forty-seven senators signed the letter, including the Montana, Idaho and Wyoming delegations.
The letter noted that Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service rules apply even to 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,” the senators wrote.
Opponents of the change argue that it would lead to more poaching and accidental shootings in the parks.
The letter noted that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service allow transporting and carrying of firearms on their lands in accordance with the laws of the host state. It added that a similar exception for parks and refuges “would respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, while providing a consistent application of state weapon laws across all land ownership boundaries.”
“These inconsistencies in firearms regulations for public lands are confusing, burdensome, and unnecessary,” the letter said.
Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said there's “no reason that law-abiding citizens shouldn't be allowed to carry a firearm on our public lands.”
“Max thinks it's a matter of Second Amendment rights, and it's also the right thing to do for people who simply want to cross through our parks to access prime hunting areas,” he said.
Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said the effort is about public access as much as about gun rights.
“If you live in Cooke City and you go hunting near Bozeman, there's a pretty good chance you're going to transport a gun through a national park,” he said. “Jon believes law-abiding Montanans have a constitutional right to haul firearms through parks without having to break them down.”
Interior spokesman Chris Paolino said the letter had been received.
“We are reviewing it and we'll take the senators' views into consideration,” Paolino said.
Current regulations state that weapons must be rendered inaccessible, said Jerry Case, chief for regulations and special park uses for the National Park Service. That means they do not have to be disassembled, but instead simply must be put somewhere not readily accessible, such as in a car trunk.
“They don't have to be broken down,” he said. “Preferably they're in your trunk and unloaded. Our regulations do allow people to transport weapons through a park as long as it's not accessible.”
Case said the Interior Department regulations were first promulgated in the 1980s and were primarily meant to ensure public safety and to provide maximum protection for wildlife.
“One of our major concerns is that folks who have ready access to them infrequently - more than we like to see, though - use them on park wildlife,” he said.
He also noted that some parks have many people in campsites, and “if you have people start plinking around with weapons, then you have accidents,” he said.
National parks have the lowest crime rate when compared to similarly sized communities outside parks, he added.
Laura Loomis, senior director of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that group supports the current regulations.
“There's no reason to need a gun in a national park and it would possibly lead to unfortunate accidents and other problems, so we'd rather not see them in the parks,” she said.
Baucus, Tester press for loosening gun laws in parks, refuges
By NOELLE STRAUB of the Missoulian D.C. Bureau
WASHINGTON - Montana Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are pushing to allow gun owners to carry their firearms into all national parks and wildlife refuges.
The pair signed a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Friday asking him to lift restrictions that prevent citizens from carrying their readily accessible firearms onto lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Forty-seven senators signed the letter, including the Montana, Idaho and Wyoming delegations.
The letter noted that Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service rules apply even to 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,” the senators wrote.
Opponents of the change argue that it would lead to more poaching and accidental shootings in the parks.
The letter noted that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service allow transporting and carrying of firearms on their lands in accordance with the laws of the host state. It added that a similar exception for parks and refuges “would respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, while providing a consistent application of state weapon laws across all land ownership boundaries.”
“These inconsistencies in firearms regulations for public lands are confusing, burdensome, and unnecessary,” the letter said.
Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said there's “no reason that law-abiding citizens shouldn't be allowed to carry a firearm on our public lands.”
“Max thinks it's a matter of Second Amendment rights, and it's also the right thing to do for people who simply want to cross through our parks to access prime hunting areas,” he said.
Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said the effort is about public access as much as about gun rights.
“If you live in Cooke City and you go hunting near Bozeman, there's a pretty good chance you're going to transport a gun through a national park,” he said. “Jon believes law-abiding Montanans have a constitutional right to haul firearms through parks without having to break them down.”
Interior spokesman Chris Paolino said the letter had been received.
“We are reviewing it and we'll take the senators' views into consideration,” Paolino said.
Current regulations state that weapons must be rendered inaccessible, said Jerry Case, chief for regulations and special park uses for the National Park Service. That means they do not have to be disassembled, but instead simply must be put somewhere not readily accessible, such as in a car trunk.
“They don't have to be broken down,” he said. “Preferably they're in your trunk and unloaded. Our regulations do allow people to transport weapons through a park as long as it's not accessible.”
Case said the Interior Department regulations were first promulgated in the 1980s and were primarily meant to ensure public safety and to provide maximum protection for wildlife.
“One of our major concerns is that folks who have ready access to them infrequently - more than we like to see, though - use them on park wildlife,” he said.
He also noted that some parks have many people in campsites, and “if you have people start plinking around with weapons, then you have accidents,” he said.
National parks have the lowest crime rate when compared to similarly sized communities outside parks, he added.
Laura Loomis, senior director of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that group supports the current regulations.
“There's no reason to need a gun in a national park and it would possibly lead to unfortunate accidents and other problems, so we'd rather not see them in the parks,” she said.
