'You can carry but you can't shoot'

Legislation that will clear the way for the public to carry loaded firearms in national parks will have unintended consequences, Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright predicts.

The U.S. House and Senate this week approved legislation that included a provision that allows people to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. President Barack Obama signed the legislation Friday. It takes effect in February.

"We will enforce the law, whatever it is," Cartwright said Thursday. "But there are some important things that haven't been discussed about this."

Republican lawmakers defended the provision, saying it will merely align national parks with regulations governing national forests and other public lands.

"The fact is American gun owners are simply citizens who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights without running into confusing red tape," said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.

But Cartwright said confusion is exactly what the provision will create, because the National Park Service's mission to "preserve and protect" is vastly different from the missions of other land management agencies.

Glacier National Park has a variety of rules that still will prohibit firearms from being discharged within park boundaries.

"The conflict is you can carry, but you can't shoot" except in cases where a person's life is threatened, Cartwright said. "I think we'll get into this debate about when is a person imminently threatened."

Cartwright said the park's rules present very different circumstances for a visitor who might be more familiar with national forest lands. A person can target-shoot or hunt big game on Forest Service lands, but not in Glacier National Park.

All wildlife is protected in Glacier Park - all the time.

"This adds a level of difficulty for all parks, but it adds a higher level of difficulty for parks like Glacier and Yellowstone" because of their rich wildlife populations that include just about every kind of North American predator, Cartwright said.

Glacier and Yellowstone are far different from other parks just because of their grizzly bear populations. Cartwright is concerned that some visitors may prefer firearms for protection against bears when there is ample evidence that bear sprays are effective in deterring bears.

"All of our statistics show that bear spray is a better deterrent," he said. "We are still going to strongly push bear spray as the best deterrent."

Cartwright can envision visitors carrying firearms on busy park trails causing dangerous situations if they encounter bears. The "imminent threat" question is pertinent in those cases, because grizzly bears are known to make "bluff charges' and there is the potential for a person with a firearm to overreact.

"I'm concerned with the safety of our law enforcement rangers, our employees and our visitors," he said.

Another factor is that Glacier's front-country campgrounds often are crowded in the summer.

"How about someone who's in the campground and hears something at night and decides to shoot?" Cartwright ventured. "In this park, this is a very real circumstance."

Cartwright said visitors who choose to bring firearms put the park in a difficult position.

"They need to put some very serious thought into what exceptional circumstances it would take for them to discharge a weapon," he said. "I hope people will leave their guns at home."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com