Posted by
John Caile on Sunday, December 07, 2008 1:01:37 PM
Now that the Bush Administration has finally lifted the idiotic ban on guns in national parks, the ball will be squarely in Obama's court - will he let it stand, or will he kow-tow to the anti-gun contingent of the Democratic Party, many of whom helped elect him?
The issue is relatively simple - should normal law abiding citizens, who are legally able to carry a firearm for protection everywhere else, be forced to become defenseless as soon as they set foot in a national park? The answer is obvious - of course not.
After all, setting aside the dangers of wild animal attacks, which are on the rise, we have seen numerous cases of people (more often women) who have been robbed, raped and murdered in these supposedly "safe" parks. Bedsides, since any rational person knows that those intent on doing harm will hardly be the ones to abide by such a prohibition, it should be seen as ludicrous on its face.
A President Obama will doubtless be pressured to reinstate the ban. No sooner had the ban been lifted than Senator Feinstein howled, "The Bush administration changes will make our national parks
more dangerous and will upset the delicate balance that exists between park
visitors and wildlife."
Predictably, Feinstein exhibits the elitist liberal attitude toward the public (meaning YOU and me) - we are not to be trusted. You see, in Feinstein's world, thugs and sociopaths prowling our parks are fine, but you and I carrying guns will make them "more dangerous." Naturally, the Senator cannot supply us with any hard data proving her fears to be legitimate. Of course she can't. Because the exact opposite is true - good people with guns are still, well, good people. In fact, the record clearly shows that carrying a gun actually makes people LESS likely to be involved in conflicts, not more.
And excuse me for laughing out loud at the second part of her statement - precisely what "delicate balance" vis a vis "wildlife" will be "upset" by a park patron carrying a handgun? Will it cause mental anguish to the bears? Erectile dysfunction in a rutting moose? What nonsense - complete and utter nonsense.
Then there is Bill Wade, president of the Coalition of National Park Service retirees, who complained: "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."
"Preferences of the American public?" Who is he talking about? Forget the NRA - across the country the American public has resoundingly endorsed the right of people to carry guns for self-defense. In FACT, There are now only two states left that do not allow the carrying of firearms by law-abiding citizens: Wisconsin, and of course, Illinois, Obama's home state, where gun control has reached a level of repression previously seen only in Stalinist dictatorships.
All to no avail, by the way - because in spite of (or more likely, BECAUSE of) their Draconian measures, Chicago is always in the running as Murder Capitol of the nation, competing each year with Washington, D.C., Detroit and New Orleans, all of which, coincidentally, have equally harsh (and equally ineffective) gun control policies.
Yet no matter how many times the anti-gun hysterics are proved wrong, they persist in their crusade to deny you and me our basic human right of self-protection. Their opposition to you being able to defend yourself in national parks is merely the latest example.
Oh, sure, many of the anti-gun contingent will claim to support your right of self-defense "in your own home." But this is a canard. As Hamline University Law Professor Joe Olson rightly observed years ago, "You should not lose your fundamental right to protect yourself the moment you walk out your front door." (Or drive into a national park, we would add.)
President-elect Obama has already shown signs of a more moderate and thoughtful approach to governance than many of us expected - I pray that he continues on that path and let's this latest ruling stand.