Guns in Parks: Safe, Scary or a Sideshow?
Bison aren’t afraid of visitors at Yellowstone National Park.
When the Senate and House overwhelmingly approved legislation regulating the credit card industry, they also endorsed a measure attached to the bill that would allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and refuges. President Obama signed the legislation on Friday.
Gun-control groups, park police organizations and animal-rights groups criticized the Democrats for approving the bill with the gun measure in it. They said that allowing loaded guns will make it easier for poachers as well as pose dangers for hikers and other park visitors. But gun rights groups said that the widespread support for lifting the ban was justified. State laws allowing people to carry concealed weapons have not led to increases in crime and violence, the
National Rifle Association said. In the parks, the N.R.A. adds, guns carried by law-abiding visitors
clipped from: roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com 