"This week, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., plans to try to pass an amendment, from the Senate floor and without committee hearings, that would overturn the national parks gun rules."

47 senators—just under half the entire body—have signed a letter supporting the amendment.

The Sacramento Bee Editorial.

"Unloaded and disassembled guns locked in your trunk are of no use when a rapist is attacking your family," said Don Tatro, spokesman for Sen. Coburn.

According to the International Herald Tribune, the amendment, co-sponsored by John McCain, is holding up an otherwise non-controversial public lands bill.

"There is simply no legitimate or substantive reason for a thoughtful sportsman or gun owner to carry a loaded gun in a national park unless that park permits hunting," stated a coalition of park rangers and park service retirees.

Both Clinton and Obama have declined to comment.

From the LA Times:

"If you're hiking in the backcountry and there is a problem with a criminal or an aggressive animal, there's no 911 box where you can call police and have a 60-second response time," said Gary S. Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Assn.

"Parks have long been sanctuaries for both animals and people," said Butch Farabee, a former acting superintendent at Montana's Glacier National Park, and author of Death in Yosemite. "There need to be places in this country where people can feel secure without guns and know that the guy in the campground across the way does not have one."

USA Today Opinion: Keep Parks Free of Firearms.

The Seattle Times: Keep Guns Stowed in National Parks.

Senator Diane Feinstein doesn't like the idea. “Changing these regulations would invite poaching, be very difficult to understand and enforce, and put the public at serious risk," she told allamericanpatriots.com.

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