Girl Shot in Yellowstone Died From Bullet Fired From Father's Gun

[Xithras]

6. Yes, there were a lot of guns in the parks before they were legalized.

It was the old "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6" mentality. Backcountry hikers on the PCT and in large parks like Yellowstone would carry them as a last line of defense against bears and wolves (rule #1: "you shoot it, you bury it&quot .

Prior to the Coburn amendment, people carrying firearms in the parks would keep them secured and hidden away because they knew that being spotted with one meant their arrest and, at a minimum, steep fines and the permanent loss of a several hundred dollar firearm. The Coburn amendment brought the firearms out into the open and relaxed the atmosphere around them, so you now see them in developed campgrounds (where they were almost NEVER seen previously), and laying around on tables. It's empowered the wannabes and paranoids to bring their guns into the park, and relaxed the hyper-vigilance that used to be displayed by those who carried them.

I don't really have a huge problem with allowing SOME firearms in the parks, but the Coburn amendment went too far. It should ONLY permit them in the backcountry, and should require that they be secured to a person, or secured by locking devices, at all times. Having an unsecured firearm sitting unattended in a park should be a felony.