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Since the Brady Campaign can stoop so low to achieve an end, they must be fantastic at limbo.
They are suing, hoping to overturn the recent change in National Park regulations that will allow concealed handgun permit holders to carry concealed in National Parks staring January 9th.
Ah, the lies and bending of facts they use to try to stop citizens from protecting themselves:
* Brady Campaign says that the Bush Administration rushed to change the regulation on carrying concealed handguns in National Parks at the last minute. Baloney - VCDL started working publicly on the change to the National Park regulations over FOUR YEARS ago. The government wheels turned slowly, finally producing a result in November. The public and the Brady Campaign knew this change was coming for a very long time. The Brady Campaign, in desperation, is also claiming that the White House can't override one of its OWN directives on when rule changes can go into effect.
* Brady Campaign says the regulation is in violation of federal law because DOI didn't do an environmental review before implementing the rule change. WHAT?! How does someone carrying a concealed handgun, but not shooting it, have ANY impact on the environment one way or the other? I would question their logic, but that would be to imply that they were indeed capable of logical thinking. DOI did look at whether an environmental review was needed and decided, correctly, that there was no environmental impact to look at.
They say their members won't go to a National Park now for fear of concealed handgun permit holders committing crimes. This is the same kind of fear mongering hogwash they have repeatedly used to fight efforts to liberalize state concealed carry laws. They would claim there'd be blood in the streets if concealed carry passed. Guess what? It didn't happen! But that hasn't stopped them from using the same old fear mongering again and again and again. Are their members curled up in the fetal position in their homes, afraid to venture out because a law abiding citizen might be legally carrying a concealed handgun in a public place? If they are, they need some serious psychological help, not a gun ban.
The number of members the Brady Campaign has is miniscule at best - no one would be able to tell if they are indeed boycotting National Parks. ;-)
Group sues to reinstate firearms ban
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sued the Bush administration Tuesday in hopes of stopping a new policy that would allow people to carry concealed, loaded guns in most national parks and wildlife refuges.
"The Bush administration's last-minute gift to the gun lobby, allowing concealed semiautomatic weapons in national parks, jeopardizes the safety of park visitors in violation of federal law," said Paul Helmke, the group's president. "We should not be making it easier for dangerous people to carry concealed firearms in our parks."
An Interior Department spokeswoman refused to comment on the lawsuit, saying the department does not discuss pending litigation.
The Brady Campaign sued the Interior Department and its secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, as well as the leaders of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service in U.S. District Court. They want a federal judge to issue an immediate injunction stopping the elimination of the 25-year-old federal rule that severely restricts loaded guns in national parks.
The Interior Department rule overturns a Reagan-era regulation that has restricted loaded guns in parks and wildlife refuges. The previous regulation required that firearms be unloaded and placed somewhere that is not easily accessible, such as in a car trunk.
But under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge — but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.
The rules change would take effect before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. Overturning the rule would take months or even years if the Obama administration wanted to, since it would require the new administration to restart the lengthy rule-making process.
The lawsuit said members of the Brady Campaign will no longer visit national parks and refuges "out of fear for their personal safety from those who will now be permitted to carry loaded and concealed weapons in such areas."
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Here is the Brady Campaign's press release:
Brady Campaign Sues Interior Department Over Rule Allowing Concealed
Guns in Parks, Will Seek Court Injunction
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun Violence today filed suit in federal court asking that the
court strike down a last-minute Bush Administration rule change
allowing concealed, loaded firearms in national parks and wildlife
refuges.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia, and seeks an injunction to block the rule, which is
scheduled to go into effect on January 9, 2009.
"The Bush Administration's last-minute gift to the gun lobby, allowing
concealed semiautomatic weapons in national parks, jeopardizes the
safety of park visitors in violation of federal law," said Brady
Campaign President Paul Helmke. "We should not be making it easier for
dangerous people to carry concealed firearms in our parks."
Attorneys with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence's Legal Action
Project and the law firm Ropes & Gray in Washington, D.C. are
representing the Brady Campaign in this case. To read the complaint,
go to www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/kempthorne-complaint.pdf.
The rule will allow guns in rural and urban national park areas around
the country, from Wyoming's Yellowstone and California's Yosemite to
Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, home of the
Liberty Bell. The suit was filed on behalf of the Brady Campaign and
its members, including school teachers in the New York and Washington,
D.C. areas who are canceling or curtailing school trips to Ellis
Island and the Statue of Liberty and the National Mall in Washington,
D.C. now that the Bush Administration will be allowing guns in these
national park areas.
The suit charges that the Interior Department violated several federal
laws in its rush to implement the rule before President Bush leaves
office, including failing to conduct any environmental review of the
harm that the rule will cause, as is required by the National
Environmental Policy Act. The Department also violated a White House
directive that no rules should be issued after November 1, 2008,
except in "extraordinary circumstances," issuing the last-minute rule
change on December 10, 2008. The rule also violates the National Park
Service Organic Act and the National Wildlife Refuge System
Administration Act, which created the parks and wildlife refuges as
protected lands for safe enjoyment of all visitors.
Rules in place since the Reagan Administration have allowed visitors
to transport guns in national parks and wildlife refuges if they are
unloaded and stored or dismantled. These restrictions have helped make
these areas some of the safest places to visit in the country. Yet at
the behest of the gun lobby, the Interior Department announced earlier
this year that it planned to allow concealed firearms in national
parks and wildlife refuges. Concealed carrying will be allowed in
every state that allows concealed carrying, even if the state
specifically bans the practice in state parks. Only Illinois and
Wisconsin prohibit concealed carrying.
Numerous studies have confirmed that concealed carrying of firearms
does not reduce crime and, if anything, leads to increased violent
crime. Experience in states that have allowed concealed carrying of
firearms has shown that thousands of dangerous people are able to get
licenses. In Florida, for example, more than 4,200 licenses were
revoked because many of these licensees committed a crime. Since
becoming the first state to allow the concealed carrying of firearms
in 1987, Florida consistently has had one of the highest rates of
violent crime in the nation. Florida has been ranked as the state with
the highest annual violent crime rate more often than any other state
in the last two decades.
As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading
the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its
dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and
enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady
Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence,
where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our
communities.