March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 42

L AW R E V I E W

Defendants responded to at least six
(and possibly more) 911 calls from concerned citizens. Upon arriving at the
scene, Defendants encountered two heavily armed individuals outside of a hospital... Not only did the officers have reasonable suspicion to believe that plaintiffs
were engaging in criminal activity, but
they also had reasonable suspicion to believe that plaintiffs may have been about
to commit a crime. (Emphasis of court)
Based on " the totality of the circumstances " in this case, the federal
district court, therefore, concluded,
" defendants' decision to stop and
temporarily detain plaintiffs was objectively reasonable. " As a result, the
federal district court held " defendants did not violate any of plaintiffs'
clearly established rights under the
Fourth Amendment and are therefore entitled to qualified immunity
on this claim. "

40 Parks & Recreation

Park Safety
In the case of United States v. Masciandaro, 638 F.3d 458; 2011 U.S. App.
LEXIS 5964 (4th Cir. 3/24/2011),
the federal appeals court considered
whether a regulation prohibiting the
possession of a loaded handgun in a
motor vehicle within a national park
area violated the Second Amendment. Daingerfield Island is an area
near Alexandria, Virginia that is
managed by the National Park Ser-

Masciandaro explained
that he carried the
handgun for selfdefense, as he frequently
slept in his car while
traveling on business.

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vice for recreational purposes, including a restaurant, marina, biking
trail, wooded areas and other public
facilities. On June 5, 2008, at about
10 a.m., Sean Masciandaro was
parked illegally while sleeping in his
vehicle at Daingerfield Island. A park
police officer approached Masciandaro's vehicle and asked him for his
driver's license.
Having noticed a machete-type
knife protruding from under the front
seat, the police officer asked Masciandaro whether there were any
weapons in the vehicle. Masciandaro indicated that he had a handgun
and a subsequent search uncovered
a loaded 9mm Kahr semiautomatic
pistol. Masciandaro had an expired
Virginia concealed weapon carry
permit. He was arrested and charged
with " carrying or possessing a loaded weapon in a motor vehicle " within
national park areas, in violation of 36
C.F.R. § 2.4(b).
This particular federal regulation
was subsequently revised to " harmonize the regulation of firearms
in national parks with that by the
states. " Specifically, the revised regulation would allow individuals to
possess loaded, operable firearms
within national parks whenever it
was legal to do so under the laws
of the state in which the park was
located, so long as the individual
was not otherwise prohibited from
doing so by federal law.
At trial, Masciandaro explained
that he carried the handgun for
self-defense, as he frequently slept in
his car while traveling on business,
and that while traveling he often kept
cash, a laptop computer and other
valuables on hand. Masciandaro was
fined $150 for violating the handgun
regulation. The federal district court
rejected Masciandaro's claim that the

March 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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