Posted on 02/21/2010 1:06:51 PM PST by AJKauf
Thanks to a new federal law beginning February 22, people who can legally carry concealed handguns according to state law can also carry within national parks and forests in that state, too. While this may help protect visitors from the parks’ burgeoning crime problem, the story of this law’s journey through Congress provides a lesson in campaign contributions and anti-liberty special interests.
History of increasing crime
In 2006, the Christian Science Monitor noted the increasing “urban crime” in national forest lands, including drug smuggling, robbery, and assault. Parks were becoming more criminal-friendly due to “fewer officers and smaller budgets.”
The Seattle Times noted that “park rangers are the most assaulted federal officers,” and that crime, including murder, was on the rise:....
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
In related news:
Retired Park Service Employees Try To Scare Public About Firearms in National Parks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2448268/posts
It would be foolish to NOT be armed in modern day national parks. First Jimmy Carter filled the ranks of park rangers with “green urban girls” so that there was very little to stop city thugs from pulling into parks with music blaring and generally loutish behavior. Partiers whoop it up til 3am and if YOU tell them to pipe down you may get killed by these fools. Now the budgets are slashed and we’re really on our own. When confronting criminals and just plain jerks in national parks, trouble mounts quick. When seconds count, park rangers are minutes (hours?) away.
ping
‘Bout darn time. I have camped many times in Big Bend National Park. Those of you who are familiar with this place know it is right across the river from Mexico. A lot of people have disappeared or been murdered in that park. I’m always packing down there, to the point of even carrying in a holster at night when the rangers are watching TV. I always figured I’d rather take my chances with the rangers than the bad guys, even if it meant jail upon being discovered.
People are going to do it anyways.
There have been plenty of attacks in parks on the east coast, too. The Appalachian Trail crowd now includes discussions of how to keep safe. There are people who let their guard down because they’re in a park, and there are people who prey upon them. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the AT passes through states where you can’t legally have your gun.
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