Swampbeast
Regular Member
imported post
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12433813
WASHINGTON — Not so fast, gun owners. A new law allowing loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges will not take effect until next year, the Obama administration said.
President Barack Obama signed the gun law without comment Friday as part of a measure creating new rules for the credit-card industry.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Department said that because the credit-card law won't take effect for nine months, the gun measure also would be delayed.
Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said Interior will follow Congress' directive and put the firearms law into effect in late February 2010.
Until then, rules adopted under the Reagan administration will remain in place. The rules severely restrict guns in national parks, generally requiring that they be locked or stored in a glove compartment or trunk.
"As Interior prepares to implement the new law, the department will work to understand and interpret its implications for our national parks and wildlife refuges, with public safety and the safety of our employees as our foremost consideration," Barkoff said.
The Interior Department's decision drew immediate criticism from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the chief sponsor of the gun measure. Spokesman John Hart said Coburn will offer the gun amendment to other bills in order to implement the decision as quickly as possible.
Hart said Coburn was confident the amendment would be approved again, noting that the measure received support from 27 Democrats in the Senate, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
The measure, adopted by wide margins in the House and Senate, allows licensed gun owners to bring firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are permitted to by state law.
Hart said Congress clearly intended for the law to take effect soon.
Bryan Faehner, associate director of the National Parks Conservation Association, applauded the Interior Department's decision.
"We are pleased because that provides more time that our parks will remain safe and free from shotguns, rifles and semiautomatic weapons," Faehner said. He called national parks among the safest places in the country.
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http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12433813
WASHINGTON — Not so fast, gun owners. A new law allowing loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges will not take effect until next year, the Obama administration said.
President Barack Obama signed the gun law without comment Friday as part of a measure creating new rules for the credit-card industry.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Department said that because the credit-card law won't take effect for nine months, the gun measure also would be delayed.
Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said Interior will follow Congress' directive and put the firearms law into effect in late February 2010.
Until then, rules adopted under the Reagan administration will remain in place. The rules severely restrict guns in national parks, generally requiring that they be locked or stored in a glove compartment or trunk.
"As Interior prepares to implement the new law, the department will work to understand and interpret its implications for our national parks and wildlife refuges, with public safety and the safety of our employees as our foremost consideration," Barkoff said.
The Interior Department's decision drew immediate criticism from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the chief sponsor of the gun measure. Spokesman John Hart said Coburn will offer the gun amendment to other bills in order to implement the decision as quickly as possible.
Hart said Coburn was confident the amendment would be approved again, noting that the measure received support from 27 Democrats in the Senate, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
The measure, adopted by wide margins in the House and Senate, allows licensed gun owners to bring firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are permitted to by state law.
Hart said Congress clearly intended for the law to take effect soon.
Bryan Faehner, associate director of the National Parks Conservation Association, applauded the Interior Department's decision.
"We are pleased because that provides more time that our parks will remain safe and free from shotguns, rifles and semiautomatic weapons," Faehner said. He called national parks among the safest places in the country.
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