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Dearborn
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eeek
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hotrod4x5
Guns are illegal in national parks, right?
Not since the morons in congress changed the law as part of an unrelated bill.
Ever since that ill-advised legislation was passed, I have been in hopes that Congress would rescind it. I have always felt that most of the public are out of their element in the Nation's parks and firearms should either be left at home or declared/sealed at the entrance. I have also yet to learn as to whether a park's jurisdiction authority - exclusive, concurrent or proprietary - has any bearing on this particular enactment. Finally, the set of facts on this incident are still developing and I prefer to not rush to judgment until I learn more.
Jurisdictional authority probably has nothing to do with it. It was a blanket policy that allowed NPS to ban the public from carrying firearms, and regardless of whether it's exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction, the feds were allowed to enforce the regulation.
As a matter of law, this allows the underlying state law to apply. In California, loaded open carry of firearms is still allowed in most unincorporated areas unless declared a "non-discharge area" by county ordinance. I don't necessarily see the need to do so in some populated unincorporated areas. I for one live in such a place, although I'm not sure how the law applies. The whole idea is that rural areas are different, but the law can't really judge what's rural, but unincorporated areas are clearly delineated on a map. Yosemite Village sure as heck isn't rural. Neither are places like Castro Valley, California.
Supposedly the open carry of firearms has become an issue with federal law enforcement. The Sheriff of El Dorado County recently rescinded the authority he granted for Forest Service law enforcement to enforce state and local laws within his county, as required by California Penal Code 830.8. The talk I hear is that they would go crazy handing out tickets for minor violations that the sheriff's department would typically just issue a warning or let slide. Another supposed issue was that they were harassing people who were open carrying firearms. Now I'm not sure how this affects the officers or if they still technically have authority to enforce state laws as granted by the sheriffs of other California counties (Eldorado NF is in three counties). NPS rangers have a specific exemption that allows them to enforce state and local laws without permission of local law enforcement as long as they in their federal duties, but that apparently doesn't apply for other agencies such as the Forest Service, BLM, or even US Park Police. Even so, I understand that sheriffs and chiefs of police often deputize NPS LE rangers anyways. This became an issue when NPS rangers detained a couple of kids for a pot violation off NPS land (in Point Reyes Station) and where one ranger proceeded to pepper spray a couple of kids (friends of the detained) who asked what they were doing. The Marin County Sheriff's Dept issued a statement that they only deputized them to allow them to enforce state laws (like speeding or running a stop sign) on NPS property. This ranger was also a piece of work. He was sued for spraying water intentionally at motorcyclists riding on the street in front of his home and as part of the settlement he agreed to leave the area. The last I heard, he was working in Mineral King in Sequoia NP before transferring to a Forest Service position and finally retiring.
