Obama signs bill with National Parks carry provision

Today, President Obama has signed into law the credit card reform bill, which contains a provision (the Coburn Amendment) that legalizes carry (subject to certain conditions) in National Parks:

Obama did not, however, celebrate a gun amendment included in the legislation. The measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., allows people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges. [emphasis added]

The addition of the amendment to the bill and Obama's acceptance of it was viewed as a bitter disappointment for gun-control advocates.

They watched gun-rights supporters gain a victory from a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Democratic president that they couldn't achieve under a Republican Congress and president. Many blamed the National Rifle Association, which pushed hard for the gun law. ...

Article here. The bill President Obama signed today effectively reinstates the administrative rule that the anti-gunners sued to stop, and which rule a federal judge suspended during the pendency of those lawsuits, citing the lack of "environmental review". I suspect those lawsuits will now be moot, although I wouldn't put it past the gun-banners to try to sue to stop the new law from taking effect. That's likely to be a harder fight for them to win, though.

Update 5/24/2009: Note that the legislation legalizing carry does not take effect until February 22, 2010. [per NRA-ILA]