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Fire Mission: Time to comment on the half-baked proposed Nat.Park gun ban repeal!

Mike

Site Co-Founder
Joined
May 13, 2006
Messages
8,706
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
imported post

Subject: VA-ALERT: National Parks - time to move!
Date: 5/7/2008 1:52:57 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: philip@virginiasystems.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VCDL's Gun Dealer Legal Defense Fund -- help fight Mayor Bloomberg's
scheme to cripple Virginia firearms dealers. See:
www.vcdl.org/index.html#DefenseFund
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------

As you know, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has finally
published a proposed change to the National Park and National Wildlife
Refuge rules.

The question is -- Does this DOI change fairly address either the
concerns expressed in a letter signed by 51 Senators or VCDL's
Petition for Rule Making (PRM)?

-- The letter signed by the 51 Senators states that they support "an
exception...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."

-- The Petition for Rule Making (PRM) submitted by VCDL requested
DOI regulations be modified to "permit citizens to carry operational
handguns for personal protection in National Parks, consistent with
the laws of the state in which the park is located".

Does DOI's proposed change do either of the above? NO!

Instead, the DOI change is nothing more than a token effort to appease
both a majority of the United States Senate and over a million gun
owners while still retaining their "if you have a loaded firearm,
you're a poacher" attitude.

So, VCDL is asking you to do the following:

Respond to the DOI's request for input to its proposed rule by
politely urging them to assimilate state firearms laws for ALL law-
abiding gun owners where the National Park Service's sites and the
National Wildlife Refuges are located.

To send in your comments to the DOI, click here:

http://tinyurl.com/5juwn3

Copy and paste the following text into the "General Comments" box and
then "Next Step" at the bottom to continue.

Suggested "General Comments" text:

--

The proposed rule falls far short of what Senator Crapo's letter to
DOI on December 14th, 2007 requested. The letter, signed by 51
Senators, asked that National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges
assimilate the host state's gun laws.

The rule also falls far short of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League's Petition for Rule Making sent to DOI and dated January 19,
2008. Like Senator Crapo's letter, the Petition, representing over
one million gun owners, requested that the gun laws for the host state
be assimilated.

The proposed rule needs to assimilate state law in a similar manner as
National Forests do for the lawful carry of weapons for self-defense.
That would make the rules for such carriage of self-defense weapons in
National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges and National Forests the
same and consistent with the laws of the state surrounding the parks
and refuges.

Please change the wording of the rules as follows, which would make
the regulation of carry commensurate with standards of the host state,
while removing the nebulous and confusing wording about "similar
lands." Existing poaching laws will serve to deter poaching in
National Parks and Wildlife Refuges, just as they do on state land:

"A person may possess, carry, and transport loaded, and operable
firearms or other weapons within a national park area in the same
manner, and to the same extent, that a person may lawfully possess,
carry, and transport loaded and operable firearms or other weapons in
the state in which the federal park, or that portion thereof, is
located, provided that such possession, carrying and transporting
otherwise complies with applicable federal and state law."

And for National Wildlife Refuges:

"A person may possess, carry, and transport loaded, and operable
firearms or other weapons within a national wildlife refuge area in
the same manner, and to the same extent, that a person may lawfully
possess, carry, and transport loaded and operable firearms or other
weapons in the state in which the federal wildlife refuge, or that
portion thereof, is located, provided that such possession, carrying
and transporting otherwise complies with applicable federal and state
law."

-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
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
***************************************************************************
 

vermonter

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
340
Location
, ,
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Wording is the key. Change the word "Firearms" to "Licensed Handguns" and it goes from a poaching possibility, to one where the only practical use for handgun is lawful self defense. I think they are afraid that we want to carry loaded rifles and shotguns. Make it clear that we are not and it should pass.
 

DreQo

State Researcher
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
2,350
Location
Minnesota
imported post

Mike wrote:
vermonter wrote:
Wording is the key. Change the word "Firearms" to "Licensed Handguns"
What is a licensed handgun?Makes no sense to add this.
I'm wondering the same thing. None of my handguns are "licensed", nor do I need a license to carry. Besides, why shouldn't I be able to carry a rifle or shotgun for self defense, especially in a park, where there's a good chance of 4-legged baddies runnin around?
 

XD Owner

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
377
Location
Arlington, VA
imported post

The number of comments is now over 4,000! An unscientific survey shows pro-freedom opinion beating the antis 10 to 1!

A lot of those opinions look the same, derived from aVCDL Alert, but coming from people all over the United States.

See

I can't get the link to format properly. Sorry.

Keep piling on!
:celebrate:monkey:)

Credit to the Bitch Girls Blog for the link to the number of public comments submitted so far. [url=http://www.thebitchgirls.us/?p=8183]http://www.thebitchgirls.us/?p=8183

Interesting comment to the blogger's post, one person said,"In all fairness, Bitter, each of those comments needs to be read and logged in. Its entirely possible there are hundreds of thousands (actually, as far as I know, the record is just shy of 600,000 comments received on a rule dealing with mercury a few years ago) of comments already submitted, but most are just backlogged up before they will be posted on the web.

but your point remains the same. I tend to withhold my comments until the last day, just so my opposition doesn’t see what I’m going to say. For me, thats not such a concern here, but I do intend to submit substantial comments here and force DOI to respond on the record. - countertop
 

Flintlock

Regular Member
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
1,224
Location
Alaska, USA
imported post

XD Owner wrote:
The number of comments is now over 4,000! An unscientific survey shows pro-freedom opinion beating the antis 10 to 1!


This is one reason why our liberties are sostrangled in some localities. When the opportunity is there to have our voices heard, only 4,000 pro-gun voices speak out so far. With in upwards of 90 million gun owners and countless millions of other pro-constitutional citizens out there, it is appaling to me.
 

UTOC-45-44

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
2,579
Location
Morgan, Utah, USA
imported post

Flintlock wrote:
XD Owner wrote:
The number of comments is now over 4,000! An unscientific survey shows pro-freedom opinion beating the antis 10 to 1!


This is one reason why our liberties are sostrangled in some localities. When the opportunity is there to have our voices heard, only 4,000 pro-gun voices speak out so far. With in upwards of 90 million gun owners and countless millions of other pro-constitutional citizens out there, it is appaling to me.

Kinda have to agree with you there Flint. NOT very impressive:uhoh:.

TJ
 

XD Owner

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
377
Location
Arlington, VA
imported post

UTOC and Flintlock - guess you are part of the "glass is half-empty" crowd.

As of this morning, the number of comments is 6,670. The comment period ends June 30, 2008, so plenty of time to increase that number.

Let's keep piling on. Ask folks on other pro-freedom websites to comment.

Heck, comment again. You may have forgotten a salient point in your first comment.:lol:

I'll keep checking this, especialy on July 1.
 
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