Guns: Coming Soon To A National Park Near You
This was the right decision.
WASHINGTON – People will soon be able to carry concealed, loaded guns in most national parks and wildlife refuges.
The Bush administration said Friday it is overturning a 25-year-old federal rule that severely restricts loaded guns in national parks.
Under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge — but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.
The new rule goes further than a draft proposal issued last spring and would allow concealed weapons even in parks located in states that explicitly ban the carrying of guns in state parks. Some states allow concealed weapons but also ban guns from parks.
“If you can carry (a gun) on Main Street, you are allowed to carry in a national park,” said Chris Paolino. a spokesman for the Interior Department.
Which is as it should be.
Sometimes in the gun control debate we forget that keeping and bearing arms is a right that should only be regulated or curtailed in the most necessary of circumstances. There are no valid security or safety reasons for preventing citizens from lawfully carrying their firearms in national parks, and thus it should be allowed.
Unless you’re the sort of person who thinks that guns in and of themselves are a safety threat, in which case you’d better get busy trying to repeal the 2nd amendment. Because as long as guns are a right a citizens’ ability to go armed shouldn’t be curtailed.
