if everyone understood that gll, there would be no need for laws. . .

Hey Guys,

There have been several times when I have been in the parks when I had wished that I had a gun at my disposal just for safety. LOL, this is coming from a New York liberal. :P However, I have a very high tollerance for anxiety, and I have never been in a situation where I have not been able to think my way to safety. This includes a few situations where I have been - sometimes unwittingly - way too close to wildlife that could do me serious harm.

Be that as it may, my gut tells me that having guns in the parks are wrong. I have a belief that crisis situations where serious harm is committed can most always be avoided if one is paying attention to the environment around them as well as following common sense precautions.

Some have mentioned the concern of poaching and hunting as a result of this law. While this is indeed a danger, it is one of many. I also worry that the amount of fatalities in the parks could significantly increase as people put themselves - and the other animals - into harms way thinking that they are safe when they really are not.

-JM

Good point james, I never thought about it that way, but you are right. some people if given a gun to "protect" themselves would would be like giving them a shot of courage as well, making them do what otherwise they would not have done. . .

Boy, I can see it now, stumbling onto a dead grizz or wolf in the park, i'm sure that whoever shot it would at least leave a note explaining who, what, when, where, and why. . .

I still think it its a recipe for disaster. . . I'll appose it. . .

The points that have been made on this subject are all reasonable and good. I'm with Tony on this one: no guns in National Parks. Period. Of course, I think people should have to pass an IQ test to own a gun in the first place but that's another issue .

Bottom line is that the parks would not be safer with folks carrying guns. Not for people; not for the wildlife.

Jim

Ya know...the funny part is...if they DO pass the law...I would almost HAVE to cary a gun....not for the animals...but for the most dangerous animal in the outback....some other person with a gun. :~)

Roman

touche!

I would almost bet a surprising number of the cars going thru the park have a firearm in them already.
From the park service web site:
"Weapons
No firearms or weapons, including state-permitted concealed weapons, are allowed in Yellowstone. However, unloaded firearms may be transported in a vehicle when the weapon is cased, broken down, or rendered inoperable, and kept out of sight. Ammunition must be placed in a separate compartment of the vehicle. "
so the guns are there just unloaded, so how longs it take to load up ?
I've read to many stories where they find someone that gets attacked by a bear and had a handgun and never got off a shot, as in most situations it the surprise that gets you. As for poaching I read the other day where they prefer a spotlight and a bow, we saw where a bull elk was killed in RMNP a few years back, shot with a bow and the head removed, within 100 yards of a gas station on the edge of town.
all that said I will probably not carry a gun, I'm just not gonna be worried if some one else is, after all I got my pepper spray

I am against it also. I really don't think the wildlife is at risk but think about that poor Park Ranger who needs to confront a drunk camper who may be packing.

transport is legal in MOST national parks, not all.

making legal the carry of guns in our parks will tell the people that it's okay to pack loaded guns into the park. This will encourage those that would not other wise carry, it will also allow people who are "afraid" of the outdoors to carry a weapon that they then are likely to use when something goes bump in the night. It also will make it hard to find people doing the shooting. if passes the criminals that already kill our bears and wolves with little regard for the law now have a national park to shoot in. . . It's a horrible idea, just horrible.

If there are other safety concerns in the parks of the SW, they should be handled locally, yosemite and crater lake the same.

So what are the going to do allow pack and carry, but say, "but you cant shoot them?"

Dont allow pack laws in yellowstone and glacier, bad move. . . If it becomes law, i'll have to pack just so that I can shoot back. . .

I am getting a big kick out of all these doom & gloom reports about if firearms are allowed in the National Parks. I can remember when firearms WERE allowed in the National Parks and there were NO problems reported back then. Don't blame an inanimate object for the behavior of crazy people. Blame the crazy people for their own actions and then lock them up.