Calling the decision a "parting gift for the gun lobby," the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence last week slammed a new, last minute regulation that allows visitors to national parks and wildlife refuges to carry loaded and concealed weapons.
Under the new Bush administration rule, the Brady campaign noted in a press release, "park and refuge visitors may be armed with loaded, hidden handguns and other firearms, endangering park users and threatening our natural resource crown jewels."
Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke said, "We should not be making it easier for dangerous people to carry firearms in our parks. We urge the proper authorities to use common sense, and stop this senseless rule."
Federal bans on carrying concealed and loaded weapons in national parks and wildlife refuges have been in place since the Reagan administration. Reagan had ordered that visitors to parks could carry weapons if they were unloaded and stored or dismantled.
According to the Brady Campaign, the rule change comes only at the request of the gun lobby. In making the decision, the Interior Department made no study of the necessity for the rule change or its impact on crime or the environment.
Typically, the gun lobby has argued that laws allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons reduces crimes. No credible studies exist to support this claim, however.
On the contrary, in states where concealed weapons are allowed, the number of people who have been given licenses and then committed a crime is on the rise. The Brady campaign noted that in Florida, for example, 4,200 concealed weapons licenses have revoked after bearers committed crimes. Since the passage of concealed weapons law in 1987, Florida, it should also be noted, has been listed as having one of the highest violent crime rates more times than any other state.
By contrast, federal crime data reveals that in New York and New Jersey, where gun control laws are among the strictest in the country, those states have consistently low violent gun crime rates.
