Arms: Bush Administration's parting gift for the gun lobby - hidden, loaded arms to be allowed in parks

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sharply criticized the Bush Administration's decision today to rush through a last minute change to rescind long-standing federal rules that for decades have kept national parks and wildlife refuges free of loaded, concealed firearms. Under the new Bush Administration rule, park and refuge visitors may be armed with loaded, hidden handguns and other firearms, endangering park users and threatening our natural resource crown jewels.

In a change from the rule as initially proposed, the rule issued today even allows the carrying of concealed firearms in national parks and refuges located in states that explicitly ban the carrying of guns in state parks.

"The Bush Administration's parting gift for the gun lobby to allow hidden weapons in our parks threatens the safety of these national treasures and those who visit them," said Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke. "We should not be making it easier for dangerous people to carry firearms in our parks. We urge the proper authorities to use common sense, and stop this senseless rule."

Rules in place since the Reagan Administration have allowed visitors to transport guns in national parks and wildlife refuges if they are unloaded and stored or dismantled. These restrictions have made the parks some of the safest places to visit in the country. Yet at the behest of the gun lobby and without any review of the potential impacts on crime or the environment, the Interior Department announced earlier this year that it planned to allow concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. Concealed carrying would be allowed in every state that allows concealed carrying, even if the state specifically bans the practice in state parks.

In comments filed earlier this year opposing this rule change, the Brady Campaign cited numerous studies confirming that concealed carrying of firearms does not reduce crime and, if anything, leads to increased violent crime. Leading researchers have also rejected studies claiming that concealed carrying of firearms decreases crime, determining that these studies are fundamentally flawed and not credible.

Experience in states that have allowed concealed carrying of firearms has shown that thousands of dangerous people are able to get licenses. In Florida, for example, more than 4,200 licenses were revoked because many of these licensees committed a crime. Since becoming the first state to allow the concealed carrying of firearms in 1987, Florida consistently has had one of the highest rates of violent crime in the nation. Florida has been ranked as the state with the highest annual violent crime rate more often than any other state in the last two decades.

Many state concealed carry licensing systems have endangered public safety by allowing licenses to be obtained by dangerous people who commit violent acts with their firearms. Numerous concealed carry license holders have been arrested for crimes after they were granted a license. Utah, for example, has even granted licenses to thousands of non-residents, including citizens of foreign countries. Many of those individuals received licenses without any background checks or proof of adequate firearms training.

Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
Putting principles before profits
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