00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 3                                                                     
01 Relating to carrying firearms in national parks.                                                                        
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the National Park Service under the Administration of former President                                  
04 George W. Bush adopted a rule allowing park users to carry concealed firearms for personal                              
05 protection; and                                                                                                         
06       WHEREAS aggressive wildlife do not respect park boundaries; and                                                 
07       WHEREAS it is not unusual for hikers or other park users to encounter a fresh bear                              
08 kill or rabid animal or to unintentionally come between a sow and her cub; and                                          
09       WHEREAS other life-threatening situations can and often do occur in the wilds of the                            
10 national parks; and                                                                                                     
11       WHEREAS allowing concealed firearms is the most successful program of self-                                     
12 defense ever undertaken by the federal government; and                                                                  
13       WHEREAS the private ownership of firearms is a key component of national defense                                
14 and constitutes notice to our enemies that Americans are a free people and a people free to                             
15 defend themselves; and                                                                                                  
16       WHEREAS the incoming Obama Administration should continue the policy of                                         

01 allowing park users to carry concealed firearms in the national parks; and                                              
02       WHEREAS the rule relating to use of firearms in national parks could be improved                                
03 by removing the requirement that the firearm must be concealed;                                                         
04       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature commends former President                                      
05 George W. Bush and the National Park Service for adopting rules allowing firearms to be                                 
06 carried in national parks for personal protection; and be it                                                            
07       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages President                                         
08 Barack Obama and the National Park Service to continue and improve the rule allowing park                               
09 users to carry firearms.                                                                                                
10       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
11 the United States; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the Interior; the                              
12 incoming director of the National Park Service; former President George W. Bush; and the                                
13 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the                                          
14 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.