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http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1122187.html
U.S. allows guns in national parks
By ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — The only place Jack Betz goes without his concealed handgun is his workplace.
Other than that, he leaves when he sees a sign prohibiting concealed handguns. By the end of this week, national parks will be one more place no longer off-limits for him.
"We should never have been forbidden to [carry guns there] in the first place," said Betz, 49, a concealed-handgun instructor and pizza deliverer in Fort Worth. "We live in a dangerous world.
"There are people who live by the creed what is yours is mine and I’ll take it. Others see rape, torture and murder like we do a waiting-room magazine," he said. "This does not stop at the borders of our national parks."
Starting Friday, holders of concealed-handgun permits can take their loaded guns into national parks because of a federal rule change under the Bush administration.
The change by the Interior Department overturns a measure put in place in the 1930s, and renewed 25 years ago under President Ronald Reagan, to address growing concerns about poaching in parks. It has sparked debate as supporters laud the change and critics call it unnecessary.
"This is one more thing the Obama administration will have to clean up," said Marsha McCartney, president of the North Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "It’s sad that this president decided that was something that needed to be changed.
"Did he think he was fixing something that was broken? No, it was running just fine."
Last week, the Brady campaign filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking it to strike down the rule.
Change is coming
Last month, the Interior Department overturned the rule restricting loaded guns in most national parks, making national-park gun laws coincide with state gun laws.
Now Texans and others with concealed-handgun permits will no longer have to unload and dismantle their guns when they visit a national park or drive on roads that pass through national parks.
The rule doesn’t change anything in states where concealed handguns are not allowed — Illinois and Wisconsin — and still doesn’t allow long guns into national parks.
The Interior Department received thousands of comments about the proposal, most against it, spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said.
"There are people who disagree and people who are delighted," she said.
Texas parks
Texas has 13 sites that the National Park Service calls national parks or historic sites, stretching from Big Bend in West Texas to the Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi.
At Guadalupe Mountains National Park near El Paso, workers are trying to figure out how to let the nearly 200,000 annual visitors know about the change.
While visitors with concealed-handgun permits can have loaded weapons at the 86,416-acre park, they cannot take them into federal facilities, including visitor centers, said Fred Armstrong, chief of resource management and visitor services at the park.
"There are still some . . . gray areas like that to be worked out," he said. "People other than those with concealed-handgun permits might think they can bring their gun. No. Only if you have a concealed-weapon permit and if you keep that weapon concealed in the park."
And the rules don’t change — no poaching, vandalism or violence.
"They may not shoot at wildlife, may not target-practice, may not shoot it for any reason in national parks," Armstrong said.
At the Fort Davis National Historic Site, workers don’t think concealed handguns will be a big issue.
Each year, around 50,000 visitors go to the nearly 500-acre West Texas park, said Chuck Hunt, the superintendent.
"We haven’t heard much talk about the rule change," Hunt said. "We have no plans to put up signs. As time goes by and we work out all the kinks, it will become apparent to each park whether something like [signs] would be appropriate.
"You don’t want to scare the public."
Christmas Mountains
In Texas, the issue of guns in parks has been part of a growing controversy over the Christmas Mountains, a 14.5-square-mile desert range next to Big Bend. State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a staunch Second Amendment advocate, has pushed to sell the property to private owners to keep it from falling under the national-park no-gun regulations.
Despite the new rules, he is worried that President-elect Barack Obama may change the rule once in office. Patterson said he won’t change anything until he sees what happens with the new administration.
"We have the Department of Interior doing the right thing," Patterson told the Star-Telegram last month. "The question remains: Will the president leave that in place?"
Concerns
Raymond Riley, a concealed-handgun-permit instructor in Arlington, said he plans to take his gun whenever he goes to a national park.
"Being able to carry your firearm for protection anywhere, much less in a national park, would allow us to feel protected in the event there is someone attempting to do harm to you, your loved ones, or someone in your vicinity," he said.
Mike Stollenwerk — a co-founder of the OpenCarry.org effort to let people carry guns openly — said the rule change is good.
Stollenwerk, who lives in Virginia and owns a home in Killeen, said he often drives on roads that cross national parks and he visits Great Falls National Park each year. He said he will probably take his gun on those trips after Friday.
"Why not?" he said. "I and many Americans carry loaded handguns in shopping malls and at government meetings pretty routinely, so why should we be disarmed when going to the woods?"
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1122187.html
U.S. allows guns in national parks
By ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — The only place Jack Betz goes without his concealed handgun is his workplace.
Other than that, he leaves when he sees a sign prohibiting concealed handguns. By the end of this week, national parks will be one more place no longer off-limits for him.
"We should never have been forbidden to [carry guns there] in the first place," said Betz, 49, a concealed-handgun instructor and pizza deliverer in Fort Worth. "We live in a dangerous world.
"There are people who live by the creed what is yours is mine and I’ll take it. Others see rape, torture and murder like we do a waiting-room magazine," he said. "This does not stop at the borders of our national parks."
Starting Friday, holders of concealed-handgun permits can take their loaded guns into national parks because of a federal rule change under the Bush administration.
The change by the Interior Department overturns a measure put in place in the 1930s, and renewed 25 years ago under President Ronald Reagan, to address growing concerns about poaching in parks. It has sparked debate as supporters laud the change and critics call it unnecessary.
"This is one more thing the Obama administration will have to clean up," said Marsha McCartney, president of the North Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "It’s sad that this president decided that was something that needed to be changed.
"Did he think he was fixing something that was broken? No, it was running just fine."
Last week, the Brady campaign filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking it to strike down the rule.
Change is coming
Last month, the Interior Department overturned the rule restricting loaded guns in most national parks, making national-park gun laws coincide with state gun laws.
Now Texans and others with concealed-handgun permits will no longer have to unload and dismantle their guns when they visit a national park or drive on roads that pass through national parks.
The rule doesn’t change anything in states where concealed handguns are not allowed — Illinois and Wisconsin — and still doesn’t allow long guns into national parks.
The Interior Department received thousands of comments about the proposal, most against it, spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said.
"There are people who disagree and people who are delighted," she said.
Texas parks
Texas has 13 sites that the National Park Service calls national parks or historic sites, stretching from Big Bend in West Texas to the Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi.
At Guadalupe Mountains National Park near El Paso, workers are trying to figure out how to let the nearly 200,000 annual visitors know about the change.
While visitors with concealed-handgun permits can have loaded weapons at the 86,416-acre park, they cannot take them into federal facilities, including visitor centers, said Fred Armstrong, chief of resource management and visitor services at the park.
"There are still some . . . gray areas like that to be worked out," he said. "People other than those with concealed-handgun permits might think they can bring their gun. No. Only if you have a concealed-weapon permit and if you keep that weapon concealed in the park."
And the rules don’t change — no poaching, vandalism or violence.
"They may not shoot at wildlife, may not target-practice, may not shoot it for any reason in national parks," Armstrong said.
At the Fort Davis National Historic Site, workers don’t think concealed handguns will be a big issue.
Each year, around 50,000 visitors go to the nearly 500-acre West Texas park, said Chuck Hunt, the superintendent.
"We haven’t heard much talk about the rule change," Hunt said. "We have no plans to put up signs. As time goes by and we work out all the kinks, it will become apparent to each park whether something like [signs] would be appropriate.
"You don’t want to scare the public."
Christmas Mountains
In Texas, the issue of guns in parks has been part of a growing controversy over the Christmas Mountains, a 14.5-square-mile desert range next to Big Bend. State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a staunch Second Amendment advocate, has pushed to sell the property to private owners to keep it from falling under the national-park no-gun regulations.
Despite the new rules, he is worried that President-elect Barack Obama may change the rule once in office. Patterson said he won’t change anything until he sees what happens with the new administration.
"We have the Department of Interior doing the right thing," Patterson told the Star-Telegram last month. "The question remains: Will the president leave that in place?"
Concerns
Raymond Riley, a concealed-handgun-permit instructor in Arlington, said he plans to take his gun whenever he goes to a national park.
"Being able to carry your firearm for protection anywhere, much less in a national park, would allow us to feel protected in the event there is someone attempting to do harm to you, your loved ones, or someone in your vicinity," he said.
Mike Stollenwerk — a co-founder of the OpenCarry.org effort to let people carry guns openly — said the rule change is good.
Stollenwerk, who lives in Virginia and owns a home in Killeen, said he often drives on roads that cross national parks and he visits Great Falls National Park each year. He said he will probably take his gun on those trips after Friday.
"Why not?" he said. "I and many Americans carry loaded handguns in shopping malls and at government meetings pretty routinely, so why should we be disarmed when going to the woods?"
