Wyoming News

NRA Wants It Bad

Swan Song Bill To Allow Guns In Yellowstone Introduced By Sen. Allen

By Brodie Farquhar, 11-29-06

U.S. Senator George Allen, R-Va., introduced a bill earlier this month to allow firearms in national parks. As you might expect, there are strong feelings about the issue either way. And while this lame-duck session of Congress isn't expected to accomplish much of anything, the issue will come up in the next session, from the man who defeated Allen -- Jim Webb, an ardent gun rights politician who used to be a Republican, but turned against the GOP over the Iraq war.

Here's a Webb profile in this morning's Washington Post, and below is my report on Allen's bill and Wyoming reactions.

Gun rights advocates are scrambling in and around Congress, to get a gun ban in national parks revoked, before the newly-elected Democratic majority takes power in Congress in January.

The bill – The National Parks Second Amendment Restoration and Personal Protection Act of 2006 (or S. 4057) – was introduced by Sen. George Allen, R-Va. on November 16. The bill would over-turn the near total ban on personal firearms in national parks, allowing citizens to bring firearms which are in compliance with federal law and state laws in which the parks are located.

The law does not distinguish between National Park Service properties that are urban in nature (Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia) or remote wilderness (Denali National Park in Alaska).

Here in Wyoming, guns (especially long guns or rifles) were first banned in Yellowstone National Park by the U.S. Army back in the 1870s, as a way to confront the poaching problem.

Currently, hunters are allowed to carry loaded guns into 61 national monuments and preserves where hunting is allowed. Everywhere else in the Service’s 390 sites, guns (rifles, shotguns and handguns) can be transported through parks if they are unloaded, even disassembled, and stored so they’re not immediately available, such as in the trunk of a car. Indeed, guns are allowed in homes inside national parks, inside RVs and even hotel rooms, but not in cars, on trails or on persons, according to National Park Service notices posted at most park entrances.

“The National Rifle Association supports the bill,” said NRA spokesperson Ashley Varner. “We believe it is good practice to allow citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights for self protection.” She added that if she was hiking along a remote trail, she'd want a firearm along for self-defense.

Yet of 274 million visitors to national parks last year, there were 13 murders, 44 rapes, nine armed robberies, 60 aggravated assaults, 270 burglaries and 100 vehicle thefts, according to NPS records. National Park Service spokesman David Barna said national parks are some of the safest environments in the country, but would not comment on Allen’s proposed bill.

Barna does, however, defend the firearms ban. He notes that serious crimes against persons in national parks are extremely low under existing federal law. There are no discernable facts or statistics that demonstrate the need for visitors to carry concealed firearms (i.e., excessively high crime rates, high incidence of animal encounters, etc.), he said.

Barna also noted that background and training requirements for concealed firearms possession vary significantly from state-to-state. Trying to achieve uniformity of concealed weapons issuance (i.e., ensuring adequate training
and background checks) throughout all 390 NPS units would be nearly impossible and unenforceable, he said.

“I think it is a harebrained idea,” said Bill Wade, head of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and former superintendent of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. “It would result in increased risks to both visitors and wildlife, and has been introduced solely to ingratiate himself with the gun lobby,” said Wade, referring to Sen. Allen.
Indeed, Federal Election Commission records indicate that the National Rifle Association spent $85,357 promoting Allen's candidacy.

Yet there may be a silver-lining in Allen's recent defeat at the hands of Jim Webb, the Democratic challenger. In a widely circulated letter to Virginia sportsmen a week before the election, Webb pledged that he too would seek to reverse the ban on firearms in national parks.

On the line

Rick Obernesser, chief ranger at Yellowstone National Park, said any ranger or law enforcement officer called in about a fight or domestic dispute, has to wonder about the possible presence of a weapon in what can be volatile situations.

Brian Smith, chief agent in charge of the Park Service’s Intermountain Region, said the weapons ban regulation gives his agents from Montana to Texas, “a good tool” for sorting out criminals from law-abiding citizens.

“It is especially useful on boundary patrols,” said Smith, because a loaded rifle can indicate a potential poacher. Agents and rangers consider numerous factors and can simply wave someone on who has made an honest mistake, he said. The number of arrests and tickets at Yellowstone don’t address every case where a visitor has a firearm, he said.

As for needing a firearm for protection on a remote trail, Smith and Obernesser agreed that is an extremely rare situation in Yellowstone.

Smith did say that the most volatile situations in national parks can occur at places like Lake Mead, where boats, alcohol and firearms create a dangerous mix. That just isn’t something commonly encountered in Yellowstone or Grand Teton, he said.

In Congress,…

Wyoming’s Congressional delegation is staunchly in favor of Second Amendment rights and supportive of the National Park Service. Senators Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi and Rep. Barbara Cubin all explained that they haven’t read Allen’s bill and therefore can’t comment on it. All three noted that with only a few days left in the 109th Congress and no similar legislation having been introduced in the House, it seems very highly unlikely that Senator Allen's bill will even come up before adjournment.

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