MudCamper wrote:
- LOC (loaded open carry) is likely not legal. (12031 (f) with 36 CFR 2.4 (a) (1) (iii))
Thanks for the info MudCamper!
Just to explain this a bit further since it's quite confusing to me...this is how we still don't have LOC in this state. 12031(f) prohibits carrying loaded where it is unlawful to discharge a firearm. 36 CFR 2.4(a)(1)(iii) says it's unlawful to,
(i) Possessing a weapon, trap or net
(ii) Carrying a weapon, trap or net
(iii) Using a weapon, trap or net
The law that now makes it legal to carry in National Parks says,
The Secretary of the Interior shall not promulgate or enforce any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm including an assembled or functional firearm in any unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System if--
(1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm; and
(2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the State in which the unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System is located.
One could argue that a functional firearm is a loaded firearm since the purpose of a firearm is to fire bullets out of it. Without ammunition loaded into the firearm, it cannot perform its function, and hence, isn't a functional firearm. So lets say that according to this federal law, carrying a loaded firearm is totally fine. Unfortunately, the law doesn't allow for "use" of a firearm, or the "carry" of a firearm, just "possessing" one.
What we have here is yet another distinction between carrying and possessing, which as we have learned from
People v Overturf (see here for discussion:
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/view_t...d=12&highlight=carrying+possessing+front+yard ) , these things are somehow different.
So since we can't use a firearm according to federal law, and according to 12031(f) we can't carry loaded if discharging a firearm is prohibited, we can't LOC.
I'd also argue that under
Overturf's logic that the carrying of firearms is still restricted in National Parks, but possessing them is totally fine (whatever that means). If you look at the GGNRA website on this subject, they only talk about how possession is now lawful:
http://www.nps.gov/goga/parkmgmt/lawsandpolicies.htm
I'm slightly concerned at this point that the difference between carrying and possession opens a legal hole for any UOCer in a national park to be prosecuted for violating federal law.