Posted on 03/12/2019 6:25:33 PM PDT by Dr. Zzyzx
Took some friends who had never been to Death Valley on a tour there yesterday. Came out of the park and stayed in Pahrump, Nevada last night. Found out these friends had never been to the Hoover Dam, nor the walkway across the Pat Tillman/Mike O'Callaghan Memorial Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O%27Callaghan%E2%80%93Pat_Tillman_Memorial_Bridge This bridge crosses the Colorado River Gorge just south of the dam. I've been there several times. You stop at what is essentially a roadside rest area and hike up a walk and cross the bridge on foot. At the Arizona /Nevada border, you are exactly above center of the Colorado River. WAY above! It's quite a sight.
Before the new bridge was complete, you had to cross the river by driving on the top of the dam itself. After 9/11, they installed an inspection area to check everyone crossing the bridge, with a couple of machine gun nests (for lack of a better term) carved into the rock to back up the security detail on the ground. That all went away with the building of the bridge, so one could drive straight to the parking lot on the west end of the bridge, take the hike, and take in the views.
Today when we took the exit and approached the area, they had a long line of cars waiting to pass a security checkpoint that apparently has been installed once again. It was raining (in Nevada!) but we rolled down all four of our windows as the sign instructed. The security agent asked me if I had any firearms in the car. I told him I had one in my bug-out bag in the trunk.
He then asked me to pull over to the side where another man asked me to pop my trunk, which I did. He then came to my window and asked again if it was correct that I had a firearm. I told him I did. He then said, “You won’t be permitted to go any further. Please turn around and leave the area”-- which thing I did.
Now, let’s think about this a moment. I was NOT going to the dam. I was going to a roadside rest stop. The agents, unlike the TSA, have no way to know if someone lies to them or not—there are no x-rays taking place there. The ONLY people who would say they have a weapon are those that are law-abiding citizens. Anyone bent on a rampage at the roadside rest stop OR the dam would most certainly lie.
Absolutely ridiculous.
You bring an interesting point. I wonder WTH they would do if there was access on the AZ side? AZ being free carry state.
You’d think they’d be more concerned about a big truck bomb or small nuke going off on top of it. That would be a very bad day for the American southwest.
There is a similar major 2nd A problem.
You have a friend, ex-military, that dies, and is being buried at a National Cemetery. You may drive hours from the Church Funeral and you encounter the ‘No Firearms Allowed’ sign as you drive onto the National Burial Grounds. What do you do. Its a property declaration and not any building involved.
C’Mon Feds, stop this harassment of citizenry.
It’s like going to the VA hospital.
No weapons allowed on the grounds.
They expect me to drive 70 miles to get seen and to
leave my personal defense at home.
Were these Park Rangers or contract security? How can they not see the stupidity in their actions? They get their training from the movies. They are the ones killed first.
That's one of the reasons why the bridge downstream of the dam was built after 9/11/2001. Another reason it was built was to increase the throuput of traffic on the highway to Las Vegas. There is a similar bridge in front of the Glenn Canyon Dam in Arizona. It was actually built first in order to aid the process of building the dam.
Like I always remarked when watching 24 and the ‘perimeters’ they’d always set: “Perimeter guys, die like flies.”
I believe these men worked for the Bureau of Reclamation, the folks who run the dam.
Would it be against the law to say no? If they search the car just say you forgot you had your bug out bag in the car. They didn’t pull you over for just cause. I’d suspect they are seeking out “suspicious” looking individuals.
I carry everywhere and I have my ccp. I carry where there are no guns signs and even in church. Unless it’s a government building. where I go through a metal detector I am carrying.
I visited the deep tour of Hoover Dam back in 2001. No problems with my visit, but that was a different time before 9-11.
You can still drive over the dam. You then turn around and come back. So
I guess they are still concerned. We visited in the fall of 18.
I carry where there are no guns signs and even in church. Unless it’s a government building. where I go through a metal detector I am carrying.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Likewise...like it is said....Concealed carry means Concealed.
BTW...I rode the Big E as a guest when we (NavHistFound) dedicated the ‘Enterprise Room’ in late 90s or so - prior 9/11.
The one thing I found was the Ladders on the ‘bird farm’ were steeper and the passageways much narrower.
Maybe it had more to do with me being 60 or so..HA HA
Had a ‘bridge pass’ and once I made it up there, I didn’t come down till ordered to...
Yeah, if they would put the check point after the bridge-walk parking lot, that would make sense. I was going nowhere near the dam.
Well, I reckon I’ve taken my last trip to Las Vegas.... Or anywhere in Nevada. Because that is the route that I take, unless I have business in Utah or Colorado on the same trip.
It’s a terrorism target.
Nevada and the left coast to not honor colorado ccw so no visits from me.
Speaking of which the Sprouts market has a new NO FIREARMS sign. I just chuckled as I walked into the store.
Roll down all 4 windows? Lame over-dramatic security theater.
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