Imagine hiking along remote stretches of the 93-mile Wonderland Trail winding around the base of Mt. Rainier. Ah, bliss. Far away from the crowds at the lodge, it’s just nature, you, your tent, trail mix, and your trusty assault rifle.
Thanks to a law that goes into effect on Feb. 22, you will soon be able to pack heat in the national parks, formerly Second Amendment– (and accompanying noise and safety hazards–) free zones.
A group of former park rangers is trying to stir up enough public outrage to get Congress to overturn the new rule or convince states to enact their own restrictions to keep deadly weapons out of Mt. Rainier, the North Cascades, the Olympics, and the 55 other national parks throughout the United States.
“I just can’t help but believe that most people in this country didn’t expect that [openly carrying loaded guns] in national parks was going to be a reality in their lifetime,” says Bill Wade, Chair of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. Wade started his career as a ranger on Mt. Rainier and now lives in Arizona.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) attached an amendment allowing guns in the nation’s parks to a credit-card regulations bill. That legislation, restricting credit-card interest rates and fees, was signed by President Obama last May.
What do guns in national parks have to do with credit-card regulation? Absolutely nothing, but that’s the way things work in Congress: I’ll vote for your credit-card reform if you’ll vote to allow my 9mm into Paradise. (Both Washington senators gave the bill a thumbs-down.)
In a statement made at the time he introduced the amendment, Coburn argued that 16 murders in national parks over the course of one year showed that people needed to be able to defend themselves in the parks.
Coburn’s amendment says a state’s gun laws now apply to the national parks in that state. So any gun you’re allowed to carry in Washington is allowed in our three parks. As we learned in last week’s SW, firearms are kosher in Starbucks too, so you can pick up a latte on your way to summit St. Helens.
Opponents argue that guns in parks will increase poaching problems, scare wildlife when they are fired, and “compromise the safe atmosphere that is valued by Americans and expected by international tourists traveling to the United States.”
And besides, says Wade, “all of the research is clear that guns are the least effective protection against things like bears and other wild animals.” (He’s backed up by the hunting magazine Sports Afield, which says that pepper spray is far more effective for stopping a charging bear.)
Luckily for backcountry enthusiasts, the first rule of backpacking is to keep your pack as light as possible, and guns are quite heavy. Still, starting next Monday, you might want to be careful when setting up your tent late at night, lest the people in the neighboring site mistake you for a bear and start firing.
