Posted on 02/06/2008 6:21:34 AM PST by rellimpank
Like Sens. Tim Johnson, John Thune and nearly half of the U.S. Senate, we urge Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to lift restrictions that prevent citizens from carrying a firearm onto land managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Currently, hunting is banned in most of America’s national parks. Any guns brought into those parks must be unloaded, cased and inaccessible. Hunters argue that is inconvenient and cumbersome during legal hunting seasons when they may cross NPS lands to hunt on other public lands that are open to hunting.
“Federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service allow firearms on lands they manage in accordance with state and local laws,” Sen. Thune explained. “The National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, on the other hand, have much more restrictive policies when it comes to firearms and I believe that should be reevaluated in accordance with the Second
(Excerpt) Read more at rapidcityjournal.com ...
What say you make the LAWS consistent, hmmm? You get caught with an illegal gun & the law says it's punishable by 5 years in jail, you don't do 2 months or get probation.
What about making gun FREEDOM consistant??? America wasn’t won with a registered gun.
This never should have been an issue. Anyone trying to put these policies in place the first time around should have been laughed out of office.
As a matter of fact, America was won with illegal guns ... a whole bunch of them.
I would be OK with making our gun laws consistent with a place like Tennessee. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be a nice start for those of us in the people’s republic’s of the northeast.
The whole concept of an "illegal gun" is contrary to the second amendment. Kind of like having an illegal printing press or in this day an illegal computer.
As an aside, I recently heard of an interesting idea for hunters called a “floating preserve”. It was an idea based on creating an overabundance of game animals in a rotation of several preserves, with the idea of increasing the number of successful and safe hunters. Think of it as a “beginner’s hunting area.”
Say you have five major hunting grounds available. All five have the typical number of game animals found in nature, which is not many. The State begins by temporarily closing one of the five sites to hunting, while at the same time actively encouraging overpopulation of game animals in that site.
In just a year or two, that one site has an overpopulation of game animals. And while some will leave the site and travel the other hunting areas, the majority will be at risk from starvation, because of their overabundance.
But this creates the ideal situation for novice hunters with more expert hunters as instructors and guides, to be taught safe and smart hunting practices, with much reduced risk to themselves and others.
They not only have a chance to hunt, with greater than natural chances of success, but also with far more safety to themselves and other hunters. And most serious hunters agree, being shot at by novices strongly detracts from their hunting enjoyment.
This leaves the four other natural hunting areas to the more seasoned hunters.
The “beginner’s preserve” does need to rotate with the other preserves, as its overabundance of animals will tax its resources to some degree, so the land will need some time to recover.
What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ don’t these idiots understand?
The coming shake-up may be...ahem...difficult.
Lock and Load.
The idea seems interesting but in reality it would be disasterous.
First- overabundance of wildlife is never something to intentionally cause. Its detrimental to both the animals and the habitat. Animals will also suffer increased disease and the habitat may be irreperably damaged.
Second- easy prey does not help beginner hunters, imo it hurts them because they are left with the expectation of the easy kill. Also a concentrated amount of beginners equals a concentrated liklihood of accidental shootings. Add to it the fact that there would be almost twice the usual number of people (targets) because of the guides/teachers.
I have taught 6 kids how to deer hunt and have impressed on them the importance of seeking their quarry, the 3 oldest are quite accomplished hunters now. One of them smoked me this year in both quantity and buck quality with their kills. I’m old fashioned though, its not worth doin if its easy. ; )
Yes, the same way that the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto had illegal arms when they resisted the German Army for 4 weeks in 1943. Too bad they didn't have as many weapons per capita as the Founding Generation.
I once proposed the introduction of “one newspaper a month” legislation to my House of Delgates representative here in Virginia, but he said he couldn’t sponsor such a law.
Some nonsense about violating one of those silly amendments to the Constitution, or something.
Has anyone bothered to read the article? They are asking the NPS to stop their idiotic restrictions on guns in national parks to align with their states. I have personally long thought the NPS position is one of the stupidest (liberal) policies imaginable; you are out west in conservative states where you can carry anything you want, then you enter a national park (with grizzlies), but you can’t have a gun in your truck or face federal weapons charges? Read the article please, before you disagree with it.
WHAT? Hunters don't say that at all. I know cause I are one. Nobody loads their firearm, puts it in the front seat and then drives 20 miles to their hunting spot. This makes hunters sound stupid. My equipment is in a case that is ready to go. I put the case in my truck and put everything together, including loading it, in the field.
No comment on the rest of the article yet. I stopped here.
Funny how absurd limitations seem when applied to the other constitutionally protected freedoms doesn't it?
RE #10
Absolutely spot on! I was about to post the same sentiments.
I would add, for those non-hunters, the easiest part of hunting is lining up the shot and squeezing the trigger. You can practice this at a range. The “thrill of the hunt” is all the work that goes into getting into position to get that illusive chance. The “kill” only marks success of the hunt in my opinion.
Good God! people RTFA
The issue for most hunters comes from places like the potomac river in MD. The canal runs along the potomac and in order for duck hunters to hunt their state authorized blind sites they have to cross it. But because the canal is nps property, they were hitting hunters with weapons violations, for walking across nps property 50 feet wide.
That’s the most egregious of nps thuggery I’ve heard of. Not to mention in the wesr you risk becoming a meal if you’re unarmed.
This isn’t at all about driving across nps land in a manner that would be illegal anywhere else this is about nps going the extra marxian mile to disarm, harrass, and deny access to hunters legitimate endeavors.
In addition to having your firearm at the ready.
PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT
Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents your Doctors office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across.
Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside
your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.
This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this:
It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset
it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar rapist won’t stick around... after a few
seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a par king lot. The alarm can
work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.
Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can’t reach a phone.
***Any guns brought into those parks must be unloaded, cased and inaccessible***
I have always kept one close at hand in NPs and other areas where I may camp out. I just don’t flaunt it.
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