Weapons versus wild

COX NEWS SERVICE

A Bush administration proposal to allow loaded gunsto be carried in national parks is provoking a crossfire of controversy.

a crossfire of controversy.

On one side are the National Rifle Association and 47 senators seeking a rule change to allow the firearms. On the other are all seven living former National Park Service directors and several park-employee groups.

For the past 23 years, carrying firearms in parks has been permitted only in designated locations where hunting and target practice are legal. Otherwise, guns must be “inoperable or packed, cased or stored in a manner that will prevent their ready use,” according to Park Service regulations.

“It’s a ridiculous idea to change regulations that are working just fine,” said Bryan Faehner, legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association.

“Parks are safe. The current regulation is in place to keep parks safe and make sure that poachers don’t get away with poaching in parks. There is just no need [to change the rule]. It is a crazy political stunt by the NRA,” he said. “This policy change is coming from a political situation at the Department of Interior level, and the Park Service doesn’t want this.”

The National Rifle Association disagrees, saying park patrons should be able to use legal means to protect themselves from wild animals and violent crime.

“If there are politics being played, it’s by those who continue to misrepresent the facts and law-abiding people who want to defend themselves and families from two-legged and four-legged creatures,” said the NRA’s chief lobbyist, Chris W. Cox.

On Wednesday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed new regulations that would let people carry a concealed weapon in a park or wildlife refuge if that person has a state-issued permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located allows guns in parks.

“The safety and protection of park and refuge visitors remains a top priority for the Department of the Interior,” Mr. Kempthorne said in a statement.

The public now has 60 days to comment before the department takes final action.

Interior Department spokesman Chris Paolino said the rule change would give great weight to state and local laws. In the District, for instance, which has a lot of national park land, guns would not be allowed because the city has banned handguns.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, called the rule change confusing.

“This change makes no sense. It would create an incoherent, ineffective and inconsistent patchwork of policies,” she said, noting that in some cases, rules would be different within the same national park.

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