GLO Chief Versus Federal Law

Has Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson just admitted to breaking federal firearms laws? In a press release issued last night, Patterson said, "When I'm in a state or national park, I'm armed."

Slight problem. Except in a small number of select national parks, guns must be kept unloaded and locked away in vehicles: breaking those rules is punishable by $5,000 in fines and/or up to 6 months in jail. When asked about this, General Land Office staff said Patterson "means just what he said; he carries, and he goes to national parks (he was out in Big Bend just this week, hiking through to the Christmas Mountains)." When pressed again, staff said, yes, he had taken a gun with him.

Patterson compounded his own admission with a statement that could get other people into trouble. "'Texans who can lawfully carry a firearm in state parks can now carry in federal parks, including Big Bend National Park" – which is not true. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne is trying to steamroll a change to the gun rules for parks that would extend state laws onto federal land, a change opposed by seven former National Park Service national directors, including Bush 43 appointee Fran Mainella. In the release, staff did add that the proposed rule change is still under public review, but when asked whether they would issue a correction of Patterson's statement, they said no.

Anyone who wants to comment on the proposed rule changes (which are opposed by the Association of National Park Rangers, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and the National Parks Conservation Association) can do so via the Department of Interior website.

Patterson then called the ban "an unconstitutional restriction;" however, the NPS ban clearly falls within the long-established "time/place/manner" test for restricting constitutional rights, akin to a rule that would prevent people from opening a strip joint – or a gun range – next to a kindergarten.