Earlier last year, we proposed a way to get loaded carry
back in Red Rock. Unfortunately, trying to defeat Question 1 took up all of the
energy of the gun rights community. Now, Question 1 has been effectively
nullified, but we still lost the state legislature, and considerable energy
will have to be spent deflecting bad legislation by encouraging the
less-liberal Democrats and Gov. Sandoval to kick gun control to the curb. Nothing
good will happen in the legislature for gun rights, I can tell you that. Where
we can win is by exploiting the campaign promises and Second Amendment support
of President Trump.
Background
For gun owners, Red Rock is a unique carve-out in Nevada
because it is the largest swath of land open to the public where carrying loaded
firearms is prohibited. The red rocks and sandstone cliffs of Red
Rock Canyon National Conservation Area that dominate the western skyline of
Las Vegas is a BLM-administered area, separate from the National Park System,
which does allow firearms. Long have
local gun owners bemoaned the outmoded regulations without attempting to solve
the problem. Congress won’t remedy this right on their own, but we can
ourselves.
Readers are aware that state law prohibits local and state
agencies from making their own firearm laws, including state parks, except for
regulation unsafe discharge of firearms. Some may be familiar with the change
to federal law under President Bush’s tenure that permitted firearms in
National Parks (including recreation areas like Lake Mead) as long as the
weapons are carried in accordance with state law.
Specifically, loaded firearms are prohibited in Red Rock.
Ammunition and magazines/clips cannot be on or in the weapon, except for legal
hunting as permitted. The excerpt regarding weapons is below, while the full Supplementary
Rules are here. The penalty is up to a $1000 fine and/or 12 months in federal
prison (43 CFR
8360.0-7).
How stupid is it that you can have a gun, and even carry it
on your person, but it has to be unloaded? The rules will not prevent a
criminal from carrying illegally or prevent illegal target shooting. There is
no benefit of this rule and the few seconds spent loading a gun could be the
few seconds that give a bad guy the advantage or allow a cougar to strike. On
top of that, it is immoral to effectively disarm the citizens who won’t carry at all because they don’t understand the
nuances of the law.
Legal basis
These rules were added shortly after Red Rock’s official
inception as an NCA. The supplementary rules for Red Rock were published in the
May 21st, 1993 edition of the Federal
Register, which is the federal government’s journal. Federal law allows the
interior secretary (via
the BLM’s state director) to make supplementary rules and orders for the
national conservation areas under his jurisdiction (43 USC § 1701). Often, there
will be public comment periods and hearings before the agency decides on new
rules, regulations, and actions.
Federal law is broken down into three main segments: The
United States Code (USC), roughly analogous to the Nevada Revised Statutes
(NRS); The Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR); and internal federal agency regulations, which are published in the
Federal Register. Agencies are authorized by Congress to make regulations in
their area of operation, such as the ATF’s various administrative rulings. Now
to make specific ‘park’ rules, based on the unique needs of the given area, the
BLM’s state administrator can make supplemental rules (43 CFR 8365.1-6),
as long as the public is given notice of the proposal and time to make comments.
Other places
No other federal ‘parkland’ in Nevada prohibits legally
carried self-defense weapons, loaded or unloaded, including the two other conservation
areas, Sloan Canyon (south of Henderson), and the Black Rock Desert. Sloan
Canyon is managed by the Southern Nevada BLM office, which manages Red Rock.
Only two other Conservation areas, the Wallace
Forest in Idaho and the San
Pedro Riparian area in Arizona, have firearm possession prohibitions. Both
are outdated as well (2000 and 1989, respectively). Even in California, the
‘Lost Coast’ conservation area allows loaded open carry under that state’s
quirky carry laws. As mentioned earlier, National Parks and Wildlife Refuges
allow firearms in accordance with state law (§ 512. pg. 31 “Credit CARD Act of 2009”),
though guns are still prohibited inside federal facilities (18 USC § 1930).
How to remedy
The public should be allowed to carry firearms loaded for
self-defense, not just in light of the Second Amendment, but because of the
dangers inherent in today’s world. One should not be forced to be disarmed or
carry a ‘neutered’ unloaded gun because of an outdated regulation. Heaven
forbid anyone is attacked by a cougar or coyote, not to mention potentially
being the victim of a crime at, or to/from, Red Rock. The right to loaded
self-defense should not disappear because someone crosses an invisible line
into a wild desert park. There is nothing inherent in Red Rock that makes visitors
any less susceptible to danger.
Taking into consideration the state laws of Nevada and no
prohibition on other federal recreational lands, Red Rock’s loaded gun ban is
an anachronism. 1993 was a different time in America. Handgun ownership and
self-defense carry was not nearly as popular as today and “shall issue”
concealed weapon permit laws had yet to come to Nevada and sweep across the
nation. As more and more people recognized the need for self-defense weapons
and the attitudes in the country have changed, it is time that unusual,
out-of-touch regulation disappear.
The rules are not federal law (US Code) and do not require
legislation to change, which would have been a pipe dream with the former
president. Even though legislation is possible
now, it’s easier and more likely to get an administrative change through the
Department of the Interior. President Trump’s administration seems receptive to
gun rights and undoing federal regulations is one of his campaign promises.
It may be easier than petitioning Washington. A gentle
campaign of public pressure through petitioning the state director John Ruhs to
amend the Supplemental Rules to allow loaded firearms to be carried for
self-defense. Given the administration, assistance from politicians and the
White House might make the change a snap.
Congressional pressure presents a problem. The
representative for the Red Rock area is Democrat Jackie Rosen, who would
probably not go along with us based simply on party politics. Nevada’s sole
Republican congressman is Mark Amodei who represents northern Nevada. We also
have Republican Senator Dean Heller who may be of assistance.
Public pressure can change things. It may be as simple as a
few nice, well-written letters. Imagine if thousands of Nevadan gun owners,
hikers, bikers, and concerned citizens petitioned the BLM to restore their
right to effective self-defense? A one-day coordinated campaign of three phone
calls, one to the Nevada BLM headquarters, one to the White House, and one to
the BLM/Interior Department in Washington combined with emails and letters
might get some attention.
Currently, a case, Nesbitt
v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is winding its way through federal
court appealing similar regulations on US ACE lands in Idaho. This is within
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning that a favorable final ruling
(especially a Supreme Court ruling), un-appealed by the government, could be
applied as precedence to BLM lands. However, court cases are expensive,
difficult, and the justices are anti-Second Amendment.
Notwithstanding the supplementary rules, 43 CFR 8365.1-7 says
that state still law applies, meaning that Nevada’s concealed carry laws and
lack of an open carry prohibition or ban on loaded handguns in cars would not be
illegal. So there is recognition of state
law already in place, though not as specific as one would hope.
We are asking for a small change to the law to bring Red
Rock in conformity with other federal areas and the rest of Nevada. We are not
asking to allow target shooting with its attendant trash and safety problems.
There will always be the leftists (often involved in
environmental and outdoors groups) and anti-gunners who will ill-rationally
protest the restoration of gun rights, but rights and truth win over hype and
lies any day. On top if it all, guns are already allowed in Red Rock, just unloaded.
Many practice ‘California open carry’ where the pistol is on one hip, the
magazine on the other, and can be loaded in an emergency with a quick reload
and rack of the slide. The unloaded guns haven’t hurt anyone or the wildlife;
why would loaded guns make any difference?
So Nevada gun owners;
are you on board?
Definitely!
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