WTF: National Parks To Go Gun Crazy?
by Benn Ray
Oh yeah!
U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says it's time to take a "fresh look" at the long-held ban against bringing loaded weapons into national parks and wildlife areas.
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Gun advocates, including the National Rifle Association, and 51 U.S. senators urged the review, including Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina. The current rules "infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners," the senators said in a letter to Kempthorne in December.
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Seven former directors of the National Park Service, the Association of National Park Rangers and park advocacy organizations such as the National Parks Conservation Association oppose a change. They say the current rules are essential to protecting park resources and wildlife and ensuring visitor safety.
In case camping and hiking wasn't exciting enough for you, our National Parks are preparing to kick it up a notch.
So, let's see if I understand the appeal of camping, assuming new rules go into place. I can hike out to the middle of nowhere. I can sleep on the welcoming ground, far away from the distractions of electricity, bathrooms, and heating. I can be vulnerable to the whims of nature. And now, on top of it all, the Secretary of the Interior wants to increase the risk of me being shot by some yahoo?
Awesome.
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