If you haven't already done so you should make yourself heard on the issue of firearms in National Parks. Our opponents are not quiet on the topic and we must not be either. Here is what the bigots are saying:
The NRA Wants Loaded Guns in Parks. What do YOU Want?
That's right, guns in parks. LOADED guns in parks. For some reason, the NRA thinks it's a great idea to let anyone and everyone possess loaded weapons in our national parks. Visitor safety? Who cares, right? You care. And you know that our current policies are smart and sound, and protect the rights of gun owners and visitors' safety equally. Allowing loaded guns in parks poses a threat to wildlife, park visitors, and puts our already over-burdened park rangers at even greater risk. The Bush Administration has opened up the regulations for comment. If they want comments, let's not disappoint them. Submit your comments TODAY and tell them to keep the current regulations in place. Take action!
Here is what they are suggesting people say on the topic:
Millions of visitors visit our national parks each year. They visit the parks because they offer a glimpse into America's heritage. They offer the unique opportunity for families to experience peace and reflect in a safe environment. But opening the national parks to loaded weapons could change that forever.
Today's national security threats make the protection of these iconic places and the millions of people from around the world who visit them a serious concern deserving of special vigilance. Requiring guns to be stored and unloaded is no more onerous a limitation on the rights of law-abiding citizens than requiring them to be searched or pass through a metal detector to enter a federal building.
We cannot put the safety of visitors at risk because of the political agenda of one organization. I urge you to keep the current regulations in place.
There is a big difference between the interior of a federal building with armed law enforcement close by and the deep woods of some national park. Here are some hints. These are actual pictures I took in a National Park:
Here is the actual proposed regulation change.
Here, here and here is the best advice I have seen on what to say to our Washington D.C. servants.
Here is the electronic submission form.
Do the right thing and don't let the bigots win this one.