New rule prompts fears of guns at inauguration

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and gun control groups
are concerned that some visitors attending President-elect Obama’s inauguration
may try to pack heat because of a rule allowing concealed weapons in national
parks.

The Bush administration recently altered federal regulations
to allow people with permits to carry concealed firearms while in national
parks if the park falls within a state or district that allows concealed weapons.

{mosads}Washington D.C. does not allow concealed weapons, but Norton
and other think confusion over the rule could lead visitors to bring guns to Obama’s
Jan. 20 inauguration, which will be held on two miles of National Park land –
the National Mall.

“It is truly frightening to think of what this could mean
coming just a couple of weeks before the inauguration,” said Norton, who has
long supported strict gun laws in D.C.

Larry Pratt, executive director for the pro-gun rights Gun
Owners of America, said Norton’s fears are misguided.

“People know enough to check on what the rules are,” Pratt
said. “It’s not been a problem in the past and I can’t imagine why all of a
sudden it’s going to be a problem on that particular day. It may be a problem
for people who don’t like guns, but they have that problem every day.”

Pratt supports a concealed carry law for D.C., and said the
crime rate would go down if it were allowed. It’s “immoral” to deprive
residents of guns, he said.

Gun owners have been touchy since Obama’s election. In the time
since his victory, gun stores along the East Coast have seen sales double, and
in some cases triple, apparently out of a fear that Obama will curb gun
ownership laws as one of his first acts as president.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is pushing for
Obama to reverse the Bush administration’s decision on concealed weapons in
national parks, and is in talks with Obama’s transition team. If Obama
overturned the rule, it would start an early political fight over the
contentious issue of guns.

The Interior Department changed the rule, which had
prevented visitors from bringing concealed weapons to national parks for 25
years, because it wanted to defer to the state and district laws, as it has
done with fishing regulations, according to Chris Paolino, spokesman for the
Interior Department.

A spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC)
downplayed any chance that the rule change will lead visitors to bring guns to
the inauguration.

“It’s been made very, very clear that just as in every other
public event held on the Mall, that firearms, as well as alcohol or fireworks
are strictly prohibited,” said Kevin Griffis, a spokesman for the PIC. 

“On top of that, the tremendous security presence, as well
as the expectation for everyone who comes to the Mall to have some level of
security screening, I think is going to discourage anyone who might have been
thinking about carrying a concealed weapon.”

Brady Center President Paul Helmke, however, sees a danger.

“My concern is that there has been some publicity about this
whole guns in the parks thing and some of the 4 million people coming in from
all over the country (may) think that just because they have a concealed carry
permit in their home state, that it gives them the right to come to the
nation’s capital and carry (a gun),” Helmke said.

Norton agreed and pointed to the fact that, since the
Supreme Court in June overturned D.C.’s 32-year ban on firearms, the city has
been in the throes of rewriting its gun laws, which has cast much confusion
over not only the city’s laws, but also how the National Park regulations will
apply to them.

The Interior Department is aware of the possible confusion
that could arise but does not believe it will impact security for the
inauguration.

“Moving forward, we’ll continue to do outreach and
education,” Paolino said. He added that gun owners have to have personal
responsibility and understand local laws.

Pratt’s organization applauded the revised regulation and
pointed to the murder of two women killed last Spring while camping in
Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park as a reason why concealed carrying of guns
is important for the protection of park frequenters.

“At least a concealed carry holder now has the ability to
defend himself against an animal or a two-legged predator,” Pratt said.

The National Park Service deferred comment to the Interior
Department and the U.S. Secret Service deferred comment to the National Park
Service and the U.S. Park Police.

Lt. G.W. Davis of the U.S. Park Police said the department
is still trying to bring all of its officers up to speed with the new rule.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)
said the public should not be concerned for their safety because D.C. does not
allow non-law enforcement to carry concealed weapons and therefore the new
regulation does not apply to D.C.

“For our purposes, it doesn’t change anything yet,” said
Traci Huges, a spokeswoman for MPD. “And the only time a person can be carrying
a weapon in the District is when they’re traveling from a gun dealer to
register the weapon and the weapon cannot be concealed, so they cannot strap it
on to their person under their coat.”