Commandant 2100 SecondStreet,S.W.

United States Coast Guard Washington,DC 20593-0001

Staff Symbol:G-MO
Phone: (202) 267-2201
Fax: (202) 267-4839

167t3

Am I s 2002
Mr. Don Hamrick
5860 Wilburn Road
Wilburn, AR 72179

Dear Mr. Hamrick:

This is to addressyour appealof a decisionby the CommandingOfficer, Coast Guard National

Maritime Center concerningyour Merchant Mariner's Document.

ln your letter of'19 January2002, you applied to have your Merchant Mariner's Document
endorsed'oNationalOpen Carry Handgun." The Commanding Officer, Coast Guard National
Maritime Centerreplied to you in his letter of 22 February,denying your application. You
appealedthat decision in your letter of 16 March to Secretaryof TransportationNorman Y.
Mineta, and supplementedyour appealwith your letter of 29 March, also to SecretaryMineta.
Your appealwas forwarded to me for final agencyaction as outlined in 46 CFR 1.03-15(l).

I am impressedwith your scholarship and zealrn formulating argumentsin support of your

application for a "National Open Carry Handgun" endorsementon your Merchant Mariner's
Document,but I am not persuadedto agreewith you. As you have noted, the laws and
regulationsdo not provide for such an endorsementnor do they prohibit it. Instead,the matter is
left to my judgment. My decision,after consideringall the material you have submitted,is that it
would not be in the best interestof marine safety or securityto initiate the endorsementyou have
applied for. Your appealis thereforedenied and the CommandingOfficer, National Maritime
Centeris directed not to place any endorsementsregarding firearms on any merchantrnariner's
licensesor documents.

This decision constitutesfinal agencyaction as cited above.

Sincereiy,

-^* r" -"

Captaih,U-S,.4oastGuard
Director-Tf Field Activiti es
Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection