Overturn gun ban

America’s national parks are special places.

But not as special as a federal judge seems to think.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly last week blocked a two-month-old federal rule that allows people who have a concealed weapons permit to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.

The ban on loaded guns had been in place since the early 1980s, but the Bush administration canceled that ban starting Jan. 11 of this year.

Half of the 100 U.S. senators had written letters asking President Bush to do so.

Officials from the Obama administration have defended Bush’s decision in court. We hope they appeal the judge’s injunction and succeed in having it overturned.

There’s simply no legitimate reason to ban people who have a concealed weapons permit from carrying a gun in a national park or wildlife refuge.

The Bush rule is reasonable, too — it applies only in states that allow concealed weapons.

The key point to remember is that states don’t just hand out concealed weapons permits to anyone who asks for one.

To get one in Oregon, for instance, you have to pass a firearms safety course.

The prospect of sharing a national park with people who are carrying a handgun for which they have a permit does not frighten us.

If anything, the idea makes us feel more secure.

If a criminal pulls a pistol in a park — criminals, you’ve probably noticed, are not apt to get permits for anything — we’d hope a law-abiding person trained to handle a gun was nearby.

The bottom line for us is that if a state trusts its citizens to carry a handgun almost anywhere, including city parks and shopping malls, then those people ought to have the same privilege in national parks.