National Rifle Association

The Associated Press and NewWest.net are reporting that President Bush signed a National Park Service rule that eased the ban on firearms in National Parks.

From NewWest.net:

Bush Comes Through for the NRA on National Park Gun Rule

Bush administration fires parting shot, allowing visitors in most National Parks to carry concealed, loaded guns.
By Bill Schneider, 12-05-08

As expected, the Bush Administration has officially loosened up rules governing taking guns into national parks.

The final rule is, according to opponents, significantly stronger than the rule proposed earlier this year. The final rule allows visitors to carry concealed, loaded guns into wildlife refuges and 388 out of the 391 national park units in 48 states.

As originally proposed, the rule would apply only to states that allowed concealed, loaded guns in state parks, but the final rule expands it to any state allowing concealed gun permits, but only for people with concealed carry permits. The rule essentially allows individuals to carry concealed firearms in most national parks and wildlife refuges to the same extent they can lawfully do so under state law.

The administrative rule overturns a Reagan-era rule requiring firearms to be unloaded and not easily accessible, such as in a car trunk.

In an Associated Press story, Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty said the new rule respects a long tradition of states and the federal government working together on natural resource issues.

He also said that the approach is in line with rules adopted by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), which led efforts to weaken the rule, hailed the change.  “We are pleased that the Interior Department recognizes the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families while enjoying America’s national parks and wildlife refuges,” said Chris W. Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist.

The rule also restores the rights of law-abiding gun owners and makes federal law consistent with the state where the lands are located, Cox added.

However, four nonprofit organizations, including the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA) and three groups representing current and retired park employees, strongly disagreed with the new rule, saying it will lead to confusion for visitors, rangers and other law enforcement agencies.

“Once again, political leaders in the Bush administration have ignored the preferences of the American public by succumbing to political pressure, in this case generated by the National Rifle Association,” said Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, in a joint press release sent out by the four groups today.

“This regulation will put visitors, employees and precious resources of the National Park System at risk,” Wade said. “We will do everything possible to overturn it and return to a commonsense approach to guns in national parks that has been working for decades.”

According to a press release sent out by the four groups, the Bush Administration received almost 140,000 comments, the vast majority of which opposed the proposal to allow loaded guns in national parks.

“With this decision, many state parks across the country will now provide a more protective environment for wildlife and visitors than national parks—once the safest place for families,” blasted Bryan Faehner of NPCA. “Furthermore, this decision undermines the ability of national park professionals to manage the parks and runs counter to the overwhelming majority of Americans who wrote in opposition to allowing loaded firearms in our national parks.”

The park rule will be published in the Federal Register next week and take effect 30 days later, well before President-elect Barrack Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Overturning the rule could take months or even years, since it would require the new administration to restart the lengthy rule-making process.

From the Associated Press:

On Friday July 18th the NRA issued a press release about Washington, DC’s hand gun laws.  What seems to be a weekly occurence more Talk about the supreme court’s ruling on DC gun laws.

You can see the press release as follows here .

D.C. Refining of Gun Laws–Offensively Stupid

Friday, July 18, 2008

Only a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Heller case, which struck down D.C.’s ban on handguns and allowed having a firearm in operable condition at home, D.C. has passed "emergency" law and new police regulations intended to retain as much of the ban and storage requirement as possible. The law was crafted in consultation with the Brady Campaign, according to the Washington Post.

There are many objectionable features to the new D.C. law and regulations, but two stand out as particularly egregious. Though the Supreme Court ruled that D.C. could not ban handguns, the new rules would still ban all or most semi-automatic pistols. And in spite of the fact that the court ruled that D.C. cannot ban the use of guns for protection in the home, the District still prohibits having a gun loaded and ready unless an attack within your home is imminent or underway.

Without Congress’ intervention, D.C. can violate the intent of the Heller decision indefinitely. That is because under "Home Rule," D.C.’s emergency bills are not subject to review by Congress, and D.C. can reinstitute "emergency" laws every 90 days. The city’s officials are already thumbing their noses at the Supreme Court.

"They’re doing everything that they can to not comply with the Supreme Court ruling," said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox, who characterized the new law as "a joke." "Unless the criminal calls you beforehand and lets you know he’s coming over … you’re going to be left defenseless."

In a true case of irony, and a fine example of the absurdity of the District’s "compliance" with the Supreme Court’s decision, Dick Heller, the man who brought the lawsuit against the District, and on whose case the Court ruled, was among the first in line this week to apply for a handgun permit. But when he tried to register his semi-automatic pistol, he was rejected! Heller’s gun has a seven round magazine. D.C.’s law defines any semi-automatic as a "machine gun" if it is "capable of" firing more than 12 shots without reloading. D.C. police interpret this as banning any "bottom-loading" semi-automatic handgun, regardless of its actual capacity. That’s outrageous.

As things currently stand, a handful of arrogant politicians in a city that accounts for less than two-tenths of one percent of the population of the country, and less than two one-thousandths of one percent of the country’s land mass, appear determined to disregard a decision of the country’s highest court. Therefore, it’s time for them to be taught as much about the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 (which defines Congress’s total authority over the District of Columbia), as they were recently taught about the Second Amendment.

In an effort to remedy the District’s arrogant flouting of the Supreme Court’s clear mandates, Representative Mark Souder (R-Ind.) recently introduced H. Res. 1331, a rule to govern House consideration of a modified version of H.R. 1399–the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act." (H.R. 1399 was introduced in March of 2007 and has 247 cosponsors. For more information on H.R. 1399 and its Senate companion bill, S. 1001 by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), please go to www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=72&issue=020)

H. Res. 1331 would force House consideration of H.R. 1399 if activated by a discharge petition, which will require 218 congressional signatures. It would provide for speedy consideration of legislation to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller by repealing the provisions of the D.C. Code that were at issue in that case, and by preventing the District from enacting the very restrictions they are now trying to foist on their residents’ Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

NRA-ILA is fully committed to restoring the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding residents of Washington, D.C., and will fight this critically important battle until victory is in hand.
Please be sure to contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and urge him or her to press Congressional leadership to bring H.R. 1399 to the House floor. It’s time to nullify, once and for all, the unconstitutional gun laws that Washington, D.C.’s government has imposed on D.C. residents and other Americans for more than 30 years.

Copyright 2008, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action.
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The NRA publishes a legislative action website that helps keep members informed of political issues in their local area.

This weeks update for Alabama also includes Georgia.

From this weeks action wire message

ALABAMA and GEORGIA:
Management Plan for Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge Released for Public Comment:  A plan for the management of the Eufaula Refuge over the next 15 years is open for public comment until July 21. The Refuge spans two counties in Georgia and two in Alabama and currently offers hunting for deer, waterfowl, mourning dove, and small game.  Two of the four management options would consider adding a youth wild turkey quota hunt and an alligator hunt in the next four years.  The plan with the management options can be found at http://southeast.fws.gov/planning.  Comments may be submitted to the Refuge at 367 Highway 165, Eufaula, AL 36027-8187 or electronically to [email protected].  For further information, you may call 334-687-4065.  It is important that the Refuge receives support from the area’s hunting community for its existing hunt programs and its proposal to increase hunting opportunities in the future

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