As I've noted in several columns on the OFCC website (listed below), gun control advocates have been screeching about last month's rule change by the Department of the Interior that lifted the total ban on firearms in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges and instead specified that they follow the laws of the state in which it is located. If state law allows concealed handgun license holders to carry a firearm for personal protection, then it is allowed in National Parks; which, incidentally, is the same it has always been for National Forests.
Today, I came across an article written by anti-gun extremist and U.S. Senator from California Dianne Feinstein that just got under my skin.
There are nine facilities in Ohio operated by the National Parks Service: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, David Berger National Memorial, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, First Ladies National Historic Site, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, James A Garfield National Historic Site, North Country National Scenic Trail, Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial, and William Howard Taft National Historic Site.
Sen. Feinstein would have you believe that now that the DOI has enacted the rule change that these will now become bastions of criminal activity courtesy of CHL holders. She argues that tourists will soon be assailed by stray bullets, though fails to note why this is not currently the case in National Forests or in any of Ohio's State Parks, which currently do allow CHL holders to be armed.
She claims that poaching will increase, as if either an illegal poacher will jump through all the hoops required to obtain a CHL, or that the mere presence of a firearm will cause a previously law abiding citizen to go crazy with bloodlust and be unable to resist an illegal hunt. Again, she fails to explain why this hasn't happened in State Parks, local parks, National Forests, or any other public lands.
These extremists are the only ones who think that every gun owner is a criminal waiting to happen. Their unfounded paranoia runs rampant through the newspaper headlines whenever a gun control law is defeated and the dire predictions of lawlessness and blood in the streets ring out from the hilltops. Of course, nothing ever happens because concealed carry licensees are one of the most law abiding segments of society.
How many times can the anti-gunners like Sen. Feinstein cry wolf before everyone just starts to tune them out? Not soon enough for me.
National Parks to Allow CCW
Brady Campaign Sues to Stop New National Park Gun Rules
Debate Rages Over National Parks Firearms Rule Change
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- National Gun Rights Examiner: How you can help hold Holder
- Los Angeles Gun Rights Examiner: What it is about guns isn't even about guns: Part 1 of a series
Comments
Thank you for calling attention to the false accusations that Anti-gun people constantly make. As long as we have people like you, on forums like this, telling the actual, factual truth about 2nd Amendment issues, then the American People can make rational and informed judgments about what is common sense about gun control.
Great post. The parks have been under-funded for decades now.
Park Rangers are more Law Enforcement now than ever. So it makes sense to be armed,against ALL predators,be it 2 legs or four...
CIII
fantastic article. i agree its very interesting that they cannot back up any of these claims with proof. perhaps they are the people who shouldnt have guns. it seems as though may secretly harbor desires to go on a massive rampage if they were to carry a gun.
Seems like the ones who want to write these common sense laws have no common sense at all you can tell by reading the articles they write example feinstein's article, liberals have no common sense at all they are like a chicken they wake to a new world every morning. We have too many gun laws now, It's pretty sad when you can't carry a fire arm for protection,and you are told to just be a better victim, and where is the common sense in that statement?
Mr. White's indignance is justified and his reasoning is well grounded by comparison to similar areas where the right to carry yields Ms. Feinstein's reasoning unfounded.
Ms. Feinstein evidently is not an active hiker. Alone is Alone and the reason for outdoor activity is to be alone. Defenseless and alone must escape her world as a possibility for harm.
I view a hiking trail as a mall, church, or school. Safe havens for easy targets. I wonder if Ms.Feinstein would sing the same tune if she found herself hiking in the middle of nowhere and faced a rapist. Never mind a bear protecting her cubs.
It is not paranoia to foresee a need to defend against harm. Ms. Feinstein needs to become familiar with the word "PREPARED". She better hope someone comes along her trail when harm comes her way that is armed and responsible when her irresponsibility only affords her the means to cry and run. The mother bear instinctively protects her cubs. She will be running, albeit. Toward you. As will the criminal. Just call me mama bear.
48 states now have concealed carry laws. Twenty years ago only about 8 states allowed legal concealed carry for personal protection. It's time the the Federal Government got up to speed with the state laws.
There are millions of citizens carrying firearms in National Forests, State Parks and many other places. Are we suddenly going to become crazed killers just because we go to a National Park? Get real Senator Feinstein, it's not going to happen! You have far larger problems to deal with than a few million citizens legally carrying firearms.
the only criminal here is Sen. Feinstein. I am a CHL holder and i am quite offended by this. I have a sidearm on me almost all the time and have never hurt/killed anyone.
Dianne Feinstein is another person of notoriety who apparently believes since she is at least moderately famous she is qualified to make unfounded unsubstantiated statements about almost any subject, logic and good sense not withstanding.
It is important that the liberals criminalize the gun, lest they be forced to address the criminalization of the criminal. The liberals have invested decades in painting criminals as victims, and recognizing crime as being committed by criminals, and guns as being inanimate objects capable of good as well as evil would require a long, hard, internal reflection. Possibly leading one to conclude that almost everything the liberals believe in is wrong. This simply can't be. They are on the higher ground. Of this they are certain. They only want people to be kind and gentle and live in New York City. It must be the gun. It must be.
My comment over there:
The statement that this rule change was "slipped in" is absurd, self-defence advocates have been working toward this rule change for more than four years. For more than a year it has been winding its way through the Department of Interior. There was a 60-day public comment period. When it became clear the VAST MAJORITY of comments were positive toward the rule change, those opposed got the comment period extended a further 40 days. Comments were still vastly in favor of the rule change. Contrary to what Sen. Feinstein stated there WAS a public outcry in favor of the rule change.
Concealed weapons permit holders will not make Nat'l Parks more dangerous for law abiding people, there are not now problems in Nat'l Forests where carrying firearms is not prohibited, even in Califorina. Poachers are already breaking multiple laws, including the firearms laws.
And even the park service admits that the Parks are becoming more and more dangerous.
Confusion? How about current law where a California concealed carry permit holder approaching the Golden Gate Bridge must stop, unholster, unload, disassemble, exit their vehicle and place their firearm in the trunk? And then reverse the procedure when exiting the Park at the other end? What kind of sense does that make?
The Parks are treasures. So are my wife and children. No one's "feeling of safety" trumps their actual safety.
Well said Mr. White. I applaud you, and thank you for saying it. I am a permit holder and I am amazed at how people allow themselves to become inundated with the half truths and out-right lies of the nay-sayers. Of the two main motivators in human nature, Fear & Anger, the nay-sayers use fear the most. To have people believe that the streets will turn red with blood and main street will become the OK Corral is classic. You are correct that legally armed Americans are very law abiding. They are also vigilant and will likely be the first to leave an unsafe scene to avoid trouble. These people are sheepdogs. We need more of them in this country. People like to curse and fear the sheepdogs until its their life that is saved from the criminal wolves that roam our streets. Americans should wake up... Americansheepdog.com
Excellent commentary!
Ms Feinstein and her gun control friends believe that only the elites have the right or need of self defense, or that if nobody has a gun that everyone will be safe. It's pretty obvious from a cursory examination of history that there was no crime anywhere before guns were invented. Isn't it?
Why a person who doesn't commit crimes with their concealed firearm outside of a national park would suddenly begin committing them once inside a park rather escapes me as well. It's likely because I'm just not smart enough to understand things this complicated. It seems that the politicians all believe that none of us commoners are really smart enough to understand all the complicated things they do. I rather doubt that, but they seem convinced.
It is not widely known but Dianne Feinstein was issued a California Concealed Carry Permit many years ago. If all CCW holders are dangerous as she thinks does she fall into that group?
it is time to take the tax paid body guards away from thes anti gun politicians then see if they would want to defend them self with a gun
If we were to allow park admittance only to those people who passed the backround checks and coursework required to obtain a CHL in most states, respectful attitudes and civil behavior would predominate in these places. If you are troubled by the possibility that such people might have their gun with them, you're probably a bit paranoid and shouldn't be running loose in a public park. If this is you, why not just do us all a favor by staying home and looking at pictures.
If we were to allow park admittance only to those people who passed the backround checks and coursework required to obtain a CHL in most states, respectful attitudes and civil behavior would predominate in these places. If you are troubled by the possibility that such people might have their gun with them, you're probably a bit paranoid and shouldn't be running loose in a public park. If this is you, why not just do us all a favor by staying home and looking at pictures.
Mr. White's excellent article certainly brought out the true Americans concerning a CCL. We who desire to arm ourselves for self-defense reasons know full well what the anti-gun groups are after. The PE is supporting them to disarm Americans so that it would be hard for Americans to resist a totalitarian government. Once any type of gun is outlawed, they will go after longbows, sling-shots and crossbows. Whatever rights Americans have today, they must use them or lose them.
Sen.Feinstine makes me sick in my stomach with her anti-gun rhetoric,ive got a ccl and im no criminal by any means. She is an idiot who makes me ashamed to call myself Jewish. she is an traitor to her office , she did take an oath to defend the constition, but she is just one of a group who want to rewrite the constition. We dont need idiots like this running our wonderful country. maybe she would like to live in Europe where guns are forbidden to their citizens, She is probadly pro-crimnal, and against anyone trying to defend their fanilies.
Aside from the absurdity that criminals are waiting for a change in a lesser law in order to break the major ones....I would certainly hope that the Honorable Senator from California would hear from Ohio gun owners, since she is apparently attempting to damage their reputation, by using her position as a national politician to suggest that they are all murderers, robbers and rapists.
I certainly take offense to that.
Did any body ever think that Difi is as full of c**p as a Christmas goose?
With the new political alignment in Washington, our Second Amendment rights are in danger. In president-elect Obama's acceptance speech, he talked about getting AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. No problem there - it's already illegal for a criminal to possess a firearm. But I fear the he and the anti-freedom crowd in Congress think they need to do more than disarm criminals. There's no question that gun owners must resist all efforts on all fronts to diminish our freedom and liberty. Throughout our history, our nation has fought foreign powers that wanted to rule over us. Now the enemies of freedom and self-defense are in Congress and the White House.
Remember, when seconds count, the police can be there in minutes.
Certain national parks in Alaska have allowed carry of firearms for years already. No massacres recorded.
The only criminals i heard of are the democrats that believe in stealing families hard working money and giving to the useless idiots that vote for them. these same morons also step on the us constitution in much the same way that king george would. remember who your friends are
Do you folks at the Examiner, paticularly the Editors, ever read the comments you get when you print anti Second Amendment articles?
How thick must you be to not understand that your rabid anti-gun retoric is the dogma of a tiny fringe of Americans.
If ten people told you that your pants are on fire, you would likely sit down in a pan of gasoline!
Get a clue!
We are just not buying what you're trying to sell us about gun control.
Most of us are way to intelligent to believe the anti-gun c--p that you're pushing. Our own life experiance and common sense tells us that your retoric is wrong, and not only dangerious to our own safety, but to that of our nation!
You keep believing that your readership is dropping off because of the internet?
Maybe we are just sicj and tired of reading folks who are so out of touch with reality, and with the American People.
Excellent article. I'll be happy to give up my gun(s), when the post police officers every twenty-five feet in the entire country. Until then, I will exercise my 2nd Amendment Rights.
I don't know about the anti-gunners, Lou, but I certainly read each and every comment! And I thank you all for them.
I Had A Retired School Teacher Tell Me No One Needs An Assault Type Weapon! She Has Been Brain Washed Like Our Kids Have. Things Really Got Hot When I Told Her She Did Not Know Much About The Constitution. I Said Our Forefathers Wanted Us To Have The Ability To Fight Of Another Country That Wants To Repo The USA Because We Did Not Pay Our Debit! So She Was Telling Me I Should Use A Single Shot Musket Maybe To Fight Off Say China Who Out Number Us Ten Or Fifteen To One. This Makes No Sense To Me At All. She And Others In This Country Need To Wake Up! We Do Not Live In A Disneyland World Anymore! If Obama Has His Way, We Will Just Hand The Good Ole USA Over To Anyone Who Wants It. Cause He Wants Our Guns!!! All Of Them!!! Turn Them In!!! Have A Good Day!!!
I carry a gun because a Police Officer is too heavy! If Dianne Feinstein will provide Police protection for ME 24/7 then I will not need the my tool (gun) for self defense
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