by Jim Kerrigan

Created on: August 07, 2009   Last Updated: August 08, 2009

Firearms in the National parks is a issue that will strike many people personally. There are going to be strong feelings on both sides of this issue and it serves no purpose to inflame or over politicize either position. There are certain basic facts here that any mature human being can understand.

First, the right to store and bear arms was intended to protect citizens, not to encourage crime; as the peaceful ownership of so many weapons over the past 400 years proves. (we had guns long beofre we had a country) The right to bear arms was in no way meant as a justification or tacit permission for poaching animals or inflicting needless injury on anything animal or human; these acts are crimes. Owning and legally possessing a gun, and defending yourself with a gun is not a crime.

Second, Park Rangers are under no obligation to protect you from anything. If they aren't armed how would they protect you, even if they wanted to? Policemen must wait until a crime is committed to make an arrest. Park Rangers do not have greater police powers than the police. They cannot arrest someone because they think he might do something illegal. Nor can they profile people and hassle one person while respecting everyone else; absent cause.

Third, The American black bear, black bear you heard me right, has more attacks on human beings recorded by the National Park Service than its larger grizzly and brownie buddies. Don't take my word for it, ask the Park Service. This tragedy is due mostly to people feeding bears and not taking care with their food and garbage. Leaving food for bears near people leads them to be desensitized to people which certainly isn't good for people; but unfortunately, it is much worse than "not good" for the black bears.

Fourth, We are among the privileged few on this earth to inherit the blessing of the "Rule of Law". A concept that holds or should hold everyone including the President of the United States and the Supreme Court's Chief Justice to the same standard. All free men and women benefit from this English concept. Every free man and woman should defend the rights of their fellow countrymen as fervently as they would defend their own. For it is the criminal, and not the gun owner, nor the anti-gun advocate that suspends this "Rule of Law" every time criminals attempt to victimize a citizen or an animal. Surely we would set along side one an other as jurors to prosecute those criminals who have victimized people or animals. We are not that dissimilar.

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