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Federal judge enjoins rule permitting concealed weapons in national parks

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against a federal rule that permits the possession of "concealed, loaded and operable" hand guns in national parks and wildlife refuges in accordance with state laws. The rule was a enacted late in the term of former president George W. Bush. Historically, the Department of the Interior (DOI) permitted only "packed, cased or stored" weapons to avoid ready use. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Parks Conservation Association brought suit claiming the DOI did not prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement prior to enactment, pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act. The DOI argued the rule did not authorize environmental impacts, thus no study was needed. The court held the rule was a result of an "astonishingly flawed process" by the DOI and their defense invoking a categorical exclusion was "arbitrary and capricious." This injunction follows a memorandum by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to agency and department leaders requesting the review of pending regulations that were advanced late in the Bush administration. Additionally, challenges to firearm restrictions have become increasingly common since the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the Court affirmed a decision invalidating the District of Columbia handgun ban. Heller marked the first occasion that the Supreme Court directly addressed the Second Amendment since 1939's US v. Miller.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 20, 2009 (boomark / email).