"Park ranger cites militia leader, seizes his gun"

From this article:

A National Park Service ranger cited militia leader Chris Simcox Sunday for carrying a loaded weapon and operating without a permit at Coronado National Memorial in southeastern Arizona.

The chief ranger at the park south of Sierra Vista, Thane Weigand, said it appeared Simcox and William Dore were conducting a patrol of the border. "They were doing a special activity inside the park that's not sanctioned by the park," Weigand said.

Simcox, founder of the Tombstone group Civil Homeland Defense, has been conducting citizen patrols of the border area, but he said that's not what he was doing Sunday afternoon. He said he was simply hiking with Dore.

...[They were detained by a] park ranger, who said she had been watching the pair, knew who they were and what they were up to, Simcox said. He and Dore were detained for about 3 1/2 hours, and some belongings were seized, Simcox said. Those belongings included a scanner, two two-way radios, his camera, a cell phone and his pistol.

The email for the Coronado N.M. is coro_interpretation@nps.gov, and they're at 4101 East Montezuma Canyon Road
Hereford, AZ 85615
Telephone:
(520) 366-5515. The chief ranger is Thane Weigand.

There's a law against carrying a gun in National Parks, and I believe that goes for National Monuments as well. So, Simcox and friend shouldn't have been doing this.

However, what I object to is a) that, if the characterization and statements given above are accurate, they appear to have been targeted by an "activist" NPS Park Ranger, and b) that their camera and other items were seized.

I'll call the NPS and get more information tomorrow.