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发帖数: 11154 | 1 http://www.examiner.com/national-parks-in-national/guns-parks-r
One year ago today, on February 22, 2010, the National Park Service lifted
the ban on carrying concealed weapons in the parks for those who have
permits to do so.
The change came about when the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility
and Disclosure Act was signed into law on May 22, 2009. The bill contained
a line item added at the last moment by a Republican senator, specifically
allowing people with concealed carry permits to carry their guns into
national parks in the states covered by their permits.
At the time, critics predicted that the new rule would frighten families
away from the parks, and that the number of animals shot by gun owners in
the parks would increase exponentially.
So what actually happened?
Not much at all, noted David Barna, spokesperson for the National Park
Service, in an email. There was “really almost no impact,” he wrote.
One specific incident made national news last year on May 28, when a pair of
hikers in Alaska’s Denali National Park drew a .45-caliber pistol and
fired on a grizzly bear charging toward them from out of a thicket. The
bear was wounded and later died, and after an investigation, park officials
ruled that the shooting was a legitimate act of self-defense.
“The only other incident that I’m aware of is a couple of boys target
shooting with a .22 caliber rifle on the side of a road along the Blue Ridge
Parkway,” Barna said. “A ranger stopped and asked them to leave, and
they did.”
There’s also no evidence to suggest that families avoided the parks in the
seasons following the new gun rule. Visitation to national parks including
Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain—and 183
other National Park Service properties—all increased in 2010. |
