Brady campaign sues park service

January 13, 9:52 PMBaltimore Hunting and Fishing ExaminerJohn Van Ness

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The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has filed suit to stop the ruling allowing persons with concealed carry permits to visit National Parks while carrying guns. Claiming that schools are canceling trips to the National Mall among other parks and citing the danger from people carrying guns, they have decided to protest the new rules. What they don’t seem to understand is this is not a gun rights issue. You read correctly, the ruling is not a gun rights issue; it is a state’s rights issue. The new ruling came into effect in response to a lack of consistency between state law and federal rules. In effect, this ruling defers to state law in the jurisdiction that the National Park in question is located. For further clarification please read the frequently asked questions from the Department of the Interior about the ruling and my previous article. Gun control laws that already exist will still be in effect and enforceable. In answer to the charge that schools teachers are canceling trips, I believe those teachers need a lesson in government. Except for law enforcement, no one will be carrying guns in the National Mall because Washington D.C. does not issue concealed carry permits. Paul Helmke, Brady Campaign President, issued this statement, "The Bush Administration's last-minute gift to the gun lobby, allowing concealed semiautomatic weapons in national parks, jeopardizes the safety of park visitors in violation of federal law." How is this a violation of Federal Law? It is already legal to carry a concealed gun on other federal lands; Federal law and a National Park Service rule are two very different things. Why choose the language “semiautomatic weapons”? The answer is simple; they are painting this in the worst possible light, as allowing concealed carry of “the most dangerous” guns in all National Parks, this is not the case. Nothing changes with this rule other than those that can already carry a concealed weapon in that state can now carry in a National Park in that state. This leaves the decision of who can carry a concealed weapon and under what circumstances up to the elected state officials. That is the crux of the issue and why 51 legislators urged the change to shift the decision back to duly elected local officials, where it belongs.