Guns in Parks
Looks like, since the Dept. of the Interior isn’t getting the hint, congress is looking to pass a law telling them to drop the gun ban in parks:
Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee http://www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc/ , and Congressman Lamborn (R-CO) introduced the Protecting Americans from Violent Crime Act of 2008 (H.R. 5434). The bill is a House companion to Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) Senate legislation and would prohibit the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service’s inconsistent and unconstitutional regulations that ban law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms on land managed by these agencies.
Despite numerous efforts by local, state, and federal officials, the Department of the Interior has not taken any steps to review their unconstitutional firearm restrictions. The ban effectively overrules laws in 40 states that allow law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm within the state.
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February 15th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Actually many States dont allow guns in their State parks even if they allow concealed carry outside of their parks. Also, if it is unconstitutional to not allow the carrying of loaded weapons in national parks, why isnt it unconstitutional to ban guns in federal courthouses? Why is one ok but the other not?
February 17th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
It’s not just the “parks” that are the problem. It’s any land managed by the US Parks Service. Here in Northern Virginia that includes major commuting routes like the GW Parkway, Arlington Cemetery, and all the roads that go near the Pentagon.
It’s not very hard to pass through land managed by the Parks Service and end up inadvertently violating the law. Personally, I don’t want a speeding ticket on the GW Parkway to turn into a gun charge.