FThorn
07-19-2007, 08:11
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070719/OPINION/707190427
POST YOUR FEEDBACK ON THEIR FORUMS HERE: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/indianapolis-star/TRP4I28UIR4CF0PRR
Double meaning for 'duck' will continue in parks
Our position: Approval of guns in state parks was wrongheaded but predictable.
Firearms fan Kyle Hupfer has left his post as director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for the private sector, but one of his more dubious legacies lives on to the detriment of public lands.
The Natural Resources Commission on Tuesday put its rubber stamp of approval on a rule imposed by Hupfer last September, permitting handguns to be carried on all DNR property including state parks.
The commission cited a 3-to-1 ratio of public comment in favor of the pistol-packing, as if the gun lobby and its loyal legions can't out-mail anybody when they gear up.
It can hardly be pure coincidence that Hupfer made his original announcement on the same day Gov. Mitch Daniels made a joint appearance with the president of the National Rifle Association.
Daniels and Attorney General Steve Carter must approve the commission's affirmation, but the NRA has never had reason to worry about that sort of thing from government in Indiana, a perennial leader in gun-related deaths.
The question remains: What dangers have our canoeists, hikers and bird-watchers been failing to arm themselves against all these years?
The question remains: Should they feel safer knowing the guy in the next tent may well be not just drinking but packing heat?
The question remains: How is it a constitutional right to carry a concealed lethal weapon in a state park, as Hupfer so ardently proclaimed, when the republic has no problem forbidding non-police from doing so in schools, airports, courthouses and even sports arenas?
The answer, friends, is blowing in the political winds, and those aren't the kind of fresh breezes for which one repairs to woods and wildlife sanctuaries.
POST YOUR FEEDBACK ON THEIR FORUMS HERE: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/indianapolis-star/TRP4I28UIR4CF0PRR
Double meaning for 'duck' will continue in parks
Our position: Approval of guns in state parks was wrongheaded but predictable.
Firearms fan Kyle Hupfer has left his post as director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for the private sector, but one of his more dubious legacies lives on to the detriment of public lands.
The Natural Resources Commission on Tuesday put its rubber stamp of approval on a rule imposed by Hupfer last September, permitting handguns to be carried on all DNR property including state parks.
The commission cited a 3-to-1 ratio of public comment in favor of the pistol-packing, as if the gun lobby and its loyal legions can't out-mail anybody when they gear up.
It can hardly be pure coincidence that Hupfer made his original announcement on the same day Gov. Mitch Daniels made a joint appearance with the president of the National Rifle Association.
Daniels and Attorney General Steve Carter must approve the commission's affirmation, but the NRA has never had reason to worry about that sort of thing from government in Indiana, a perennial leader in gun-related deaths.
The question remains: What dangers have our canoeists, hikers and bird-watchers been failing to arm themselves against all these years?
The question remains: Should they feel safer knowing the guy in the next tent may well be not just drinking but packing heat?
The question remains: How is it a constitutional right to carry a concealed lethal weapon in a state park, as Hupfer so ardently proclaimed, when the republic has no problem forbidding non-police from doing so in schools, airports, courthouses and even sports arenas?
The answer, friends, is blowing in the political winds, and those aren't the kind of fresh breezes for which one repairs to woods and wildlife sanctuaries.
