Misfired blame

Would a sign saying "No Weapons" have stopped Benjamin Barnes from trying to hide out in Mount Rainier National Park? Hard to believe, but some people think so.

You can see it now. The Iraq War veteran, who has had trouble adjusting to civilian life, has been involved in a shooting at a New Year's party near Seattle. Four people have been wounded, and now he is on the run. He comes to a roadblock to check vehicles for chains and blows right through it. Then he sees a sign. No weapons? Oh, man, he says (or words to that effect), slamming a fist on the steering wheel - and turns around to go back home.

Does anybody believe that?

The murder of park Ranger Margaret Anderson, reportedly at the hands of Barnes, provoked Bill Wade, the outgoing chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, to complain about the 2010 congressional action that repealed a ban on citizens carrying weapons in national parks.

Sure, they and every other American feels very bad that a park ranger was killed on the job, while she was doing her duty. But the weapons law was not the cause, not even a slight, contributing factor.

Americans have a right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to bear arms for lawful purposes including self-defense. There was no reason why that right should be suspended while people visit the national parks, especially if they venture into the more remote sections where self-defense against predators might become more than a theoretical possibility.

- Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald