Guns to be allowed in National Parks Again

Daniel White has a good piece on the change over to the new regime of allowing concealed carry of handguns in National parks if the State allows concealed carry in State parks. His article can be seen here. White of course is talking about Ohio, where State law permits guns in parks, similar to Virginia and several other States. Here in North Carolina, not so much. Among the seemingly endless list of prohibited places is, amazingly, State parks. The reasoning behind including State parks on the list is a mystery, though in all probability you will find some similar type of thinking:

"The big problem is that park visitors will now be forced to rely on the judgment of those carrying weapons in our parks for our safety . . . and that's not an ideal recipe," she said.

Let's take apart this little pack of lies and deceit, shall we?

First of all, her "safety" has always relied on her own awareness and wits to keep her safe. The police will help, I'm sure, if they can, and they happen to be there. But the chances of them being there are incredibly small. That she does not know these things says more about her than about any licences concealed carrier she happens to encounter while in the park. Along similar lines is the notion that somehow licensed concealed carriers endanger the children in a park, rather than serving as a first line of defense against those who might kidnap and abuse children. Personally, I'd rather have a few armed parents floating about keeping an eye on their kids and my grand kids.

Then there is the fact that outside the park, she still has to rely, as she says, on the "judgement of people carrying weapons" if she doesn't see to her own defense. How do these people carrying weapons go from being no threat on the street, to becoming a threat after crossing the boundary of the park? Does the park have a magnetizer beam that changes people into monsters inside its boundary? Of course, that is not true. The truth is that criminals have always carried, even in National parks. Only the good guys have been disarmed by this policy. The new policy simply levels the field a bit.

Then there is the nature of a park like Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is a sprawling park, were people actually live, and some do business within it's boundaries. Some roadways go through the park, and it is difficult to avoid crossing through, even if you do not have business in the park itself. Do people who live in the park have to give up a Constitutionally guaranteed right? What of business owners? What about the concealed carrier who happens to take one of the roads through the park? Do they become felons?

Go read the whole thing. Each time there is a loosening of gun rights, there are always predictions of the return of the Wild West, and of blood in the streets. These things never happen, but that doesn't stop the gun grabbers from claiming it anew each and every time. It is high time that folks started laughing at them each time the hysteria starts.