Should Loaded and Concealed Guns be Allowed in National Parks?

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By Paul Helmke, Brady Campaign President

The U.S. House vote to allow loaded firearms to be carried both concealed and openly in most of our national parks, in urban areas as well as rural areas, moves us one step closer to reversing the safety-oriented gun responsibility rule adopted early in the Reagan Administration.

This vote ignored the concerns of law enforcement officials responsible for safety in our national parks as well as the vast majority of park users who submitted comments in opposition to changing these rules.

By attaching this language to an unrelated bill designed to protect credit card users, those pushing more guns in more places have insulated themselves from any possible chance of a veto by President Obama.

When he signs this bill, however, we call on President Obama to re-affirm his long-standing concern about more guns being carried in more places, and promise the American people that he will be taking steps in the near future to help reduce the gun violence in this country that unnecessarily touches so many each year.

The Supreme Court has said that we have gun rights, but has also said those rights are ‘not unlimited.’ Let's now start talking about gun responsibilities as well as gun rights.