Senate votes in support of measure containing pro-2nd Amendment provision
Senator Tom Coburn has been one of the staunch defenders of 2nd Amendment rights in this Congress and he’s been actively working to get firearms matters addressed. Tuesday he submitted an amendment to a credit card reform bill that would expressly permit lawful gun owners to carry their weapons in national parks in accordance with the laws of the states those parks are in. The Senate supported the measure by a vote of 67-29.
The Senate on Tuesday voted in favor of a measure, 67-29, that would allow Americans to carry firearms in national parks, if their state laws permit them to possess a gun, with 27 Democrats voting in support.
But because the measure was passed as an amendment to a broader bill seeking reform of the credit card industry, the move jeopardizes the reform bill, whose lead sponsor, Sen. Chris Dodd, opposed the firearm amendment.
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The Coburn amendment to the credit card bill would allow states to determine whether or not legal gun owners can carry guns in state and national parks. It prohibits the Department of Interior secretary from making any rule or enforcing any regulation that goes against that determination.
Coburn cited statistics, including 41 rapes, 92 robberies, 16 kidnappings and 5,944 other felony violations taking place in national parks last year.
Bravo, Senator Coburn. Dodd says the amendment threatens the bill but no other Senator has complained about its presence. I would point out that Senate Majority Lead Reid voted in favor of the amendment. I would also be remiss if I did not point out that Virginia Senator Jim Webb (D) also voted for it, even rising to speak in support of the amendment.
“It doesn’t mean you can go hunting. It doesn’t mean a 12-year-old can carry a gun” into a park, he said, adding that current law leaves means there is a risk of arrest for gun carriers who simply travel down a highway that might skirt or cut through a park, as happens in Virginia and other states.
Quite correct and I’m glad to see Senator Webb putting the interests of Virginians ahead of the DNC’s party line.
