Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Good news!
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill today that included an amendment to repeal the gun ban on National Park Service (NPS) land and wildlife refuges.
The amendment, sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and attached to a credit card industry reform bill, passed the House overwhelmingly by a
vote of 279-147.
For decades, law-abiding citizens have been prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment rights on NPS land and wildlife refuges, even if the state in which the land is located allows carrying firearms.
With some limited exceptions for hunting, the only way to legally possess a firearm anywhere in a national park is by having it unloaded and inaccessible, such as locked up in an automobile trunk. A Bush administration regulation partially reversed the ban, but that action was single handedly negated recently by an activist judge in Washington,
D.C. The Department of Interior decided not to appeal that ruling.
Senator Coburn believes, like you do, that Americans should not be forced to sacrifice their Second Amendment rights when entering NPS land and wildlife refuges.
The anti-gun leadership in both the House and Senate went berserk and fought to keep the Coburn amendment from being attached to the underlying bill. Sparks were flying on the floor of the House of Representatives today.
Anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) whined that a "very good" credit card bill had been "hijacked" by the Coburn amendment. To this, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) pointed out that gun control is the policy of tyrants,
as evidenced by the British attempt to confiscate firearms at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
Congressional leaders and entrenched bureaucrats have fought over the NPS gun ban for the past eight years.
But your activism has finally broken through.
The late Senator Everett Dirksen said, "When I feel the heat, I see the light!" Well, you have applied a lot of heat.
Members of Congress know that they oppose your Second Amendment rights at their own peril.
As it stands today, both houses of Congress have now passed the Coburn amendment -- and President Obama is expected to sign the provision into law (only because it is part of a larger credit card bill that he really wants).
So, congratulate yourself for helping to win this long, hard battle.
Of course, many more battles lie ahead.
President Obama continues to push for the Senate to ratify massive international gun control treaties.
There is a battle over a Supreme Court nominee coming up.
Anti-gun zealots in Congress are aggressively pushing to renew the Clinton gun ban and close down gun shows.
