Delegation pushes to allow guns in parks
By Kevin Huelsmann, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
May 8, 2009
U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., have added their names as co-sponsors of a bill that would allow individuals to carry concealed weapons into national parks.
The legislation, called the Preservation of the Second Amendment in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges Act, seeks to replace an administrative rule that has been mired in court proceedings since January that would also allow visitors to carry concealed weapons into national parks.
A federal judge in April struck down that administrative rule, which was set in place last December by the outgoing Bush administration, after several conservation and other groups filed a lawsuit.
“While the appeal of the rule to allow guns in national parks is a small setback, the pressure to do what is right and preserve Second Amendment rights in and out of national parks will not stop,” Enzi said in a statement released Thursday. “The Wyoming delegation is turning up the heat.”
The two senators join U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who is co-sponsoring an identical bill in the House.
“We want to make sure that Second Amendment rights are being protected over and beyond what one judge is doing,” said Lummis’ press secretary Ryan Taylor. “Members of Congress are making a stand to protect those rights so they’re not controlled by the whim of one judge.”
The legislation, which was first introduced into the House on March 24 by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has attracted more than 50 co-sponsors, including senators and representatives from Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado.
As the proposed legislation works its way through congressional committees, the Department of the Interior said it plans to conduct a full environmental analysis of the rule.
Local conservation groups that have opposed the idea continue to decry it.
“First and foremost, we’re concerned about the safety of visitors,” said Louise Lasley, public lands director for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. “There’s also added potential for killing wildlife, either deliberately or accidentally.”
Lasley said that allowing concealed weapons into national parks would constitute a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act because of the potential safety risks to visitors and wildlife.
The national conservation groups that filed suit against the federal government over the rule said the Bush administration failed to conduct an environmental analysis of the rule, a violation of federal law.
In its original complaint, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said the rule would increase the amount of violent crime and gun violence within national parks and would subsequently increase the risk that wildlife would also be harmed.
Currently, visitors to national parks are allowed to carry weapons within the boundaries of the parks if the weapons are broken down and not readably usable, Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said.
“It’s worked for us for decades,” Skaggs said of the rule. “We just hope that there isn’t any confusion because the new rule was in place for such a short time in January and then it was stopped when the Obama administration came in.”
