"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."  This quote underscores the fact that the American public cannot be protected by the Government at all times.  There are times when the responsibility of self-protection falls on the individual.

As proof of this, I submit the case of Warren v. District of Columbia (1981) the Federal Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled that the police do not have a legal responsibility to protect individuals within society.  The police must only to protect society 'at large'.  This was a case in which three rape victims sued the District of Columbia. Two of three female roommates were upstairs when they heard men break in and attack the third. After repeated calls to the police over half an hour, the roommate's screams stopped, and they assumed the police had arrived. They went downstairs and were held captive, raped, robbed, beaten, and forced to commit sexual acts upon one another and to submit to the attackers' sexual demands for 14 hours. The police claimed that they had lost track of the repeated calls for assistance.

Having regulations that remove firearms from law abiding citizens only serves to create a potential victim for those people not inclined to follow the law.  After all, people who are inclined to break the law will do so at will, and criminals not encumbered by following the law already carry concealed firearms wherever they go; and whenever they feel like it.

Having a prohibition on firearms in State parks may make some people (who do not like firearms) feel safer, but it won’t make them any safer in actuality.  

I ask that you pass this petition as written.