The Department of Interior has decided to abide by the Second Amendment.
Why? Maybe the recent Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution does indeed protect an individual’s right to bear arms has something to do with it. Or maybe DOI folk just heard about bad people with guns going after innocent people without guns.
Whatever the reasons, the department deserves a cheer or three, for revising its regulations in the direction of common sense. The department now allows visitors to national parks to carry concealed firearms not only for hunting but also for self-defense, so long as doing so is allowed under state law.
Interior’s official Q&A about the new policy is fairly straightforward. Won’t the new rules endanger wildlife and other visitors? Why, no. There is “no reason to believe that law-abiding citizens who carry concealed firearms will . . . use their firearms for illegal purposes.”
Aren’t the national parks safe places? So, why would any visitors even need to carry arms? The department replies that criminal activity does sometimes occur on federal lands, but that in any case, “we do not believe it is appropriate to refuse to recognize state laws simply because a person enters the boundaries of a national park or wildlife refuge.”
How long will the reasonable new rule last? That depends in part on the vagaries of politics and political appointments. But it’s constitutional, it makes sense . . . could that give it some staying power?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.