Senate vote is a preliminary victory for guns in national parks

May 13, 8:28 PMNational Parks Recreation ExaminerRandi Minetor

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It’s not over yet. 

This week, the U.S. Senate voted on the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009, with an amendment attached that was sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).  If Coburn’s name sounds familiar, you’re probably following the progress of the movement to allow the licensed concealed carry of firearms into national parks—an effort Coburn has spearheaded in the Senate for several years.

Coburn managed to attach an amendment to the credit card bill that reverses legislation passed while Ronald Reagan was president, making it illegal to carry a loaded weapon in a national park. The Reagan law states that guns must be unloaded, disassembled and packed in a park visitor’s luggage or stowed in the trunk of a car.

Coburn’s amendment introduced this week, S.AMDT.1067 to H.R. 627, states its purpose in this manner:  “To protect innocent Americans from violent crime in national parks and refuges.”

The amendment goes on to state in (8)(b): “The Secretary of the Interior shall not promulgate or enforce any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm including an assembled or functional firearm in any unit of the National Park System for the National Wildlife Refuge System if—(1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm; and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the State in which the unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System is located.”

The Senate agreed to the addition of this amendment with a 67 to 29 vote (including 27 Democrats, 39 Republicans and one independent who voted in favor). If voted into law, the amendment would not only allow concealed carry, but also openly carried rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic weapons in the national parks and refuges if the firearm is in compliance with the laws of the state in which the park is located.

If the amendment remains attached to the bill after it goes back to the House, it will be up to President Obama to decide whether or not he will sign or veto the bill.  Given his support of the credit cardholders’ bill of rights, this creates a tough decision for the president, who has declared his support of the Second Amendment but has not been in favor of guns in the national parks.

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), working with a coalition that includes the Humane Society of the United States, Violence Policy Center, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and the Legal Community Against Violence, today sent a letter directly to President Obama to ask for his help in stopping efforts to allow loaded guns in the parks. 

“Assault rifles have no place at campfire talks and ranger walks in our national parks,” said NPCA Associate Director and former park ranger Bryan Faehner. “This rider is a vote against the safety of American families in our national parks. The U.S. Senate disregarded the concerns of national park rangers and former Park Service directors who want American families and wildlife to remain safe in our national parks. We hope that President Obama won’t do the same.”

Faehner and Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, are both working actively to get the gun amendment removed from the credit card legislation during the conference to resolve differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill, the Associated Press reported.