ShareThisWASHINGTON - A new law will lift the 94-year-old ban on carrying loaded firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges when it goes into effect Monday.
The law, passed by Congress in May as an amendment to a credit-reform bill, will end the ability of the National Park Service to set its own gun-carry restrictions, making each park subject to the gun laws of its home state.
While the law will not give park visitors blanket permission to possess firearms, it will allow visitors to carry guns into any park, provided they follow all federal, state and local laws.
Current regulations allow park goers to possess firearms, but they must be unassembled, unloaded and stored away from ammunition. Starting Monday, specific rules will vary by location.
The new law does not give visitors permission or fire their weapons -- only to possess them.
David Barna, chief spokesman for the NPS, said firearms will still be prohibited in federal buildings such as ranger stations and visitor centers. Firearms will be permitted in facilities not directly owned and operated by the NPS, including many campgrounds and hotels.
"We will take the 'firearms prohibited' signs off at the front gate," Barna said. "A lot of the burden is on the public to know the laws of your state."
In states that allow the open carrying of firearms, park guests will be permitted to keep loaded weapons on hand and in plain sight. Permit requirements for firearms will vary among parks.
Regulations may also vary within some parks. Yellowstone covers land in three states, and the Appalachian Trail winds through nine.
For example, Yellowstone visitors in Idaho will have to be at least 18 years old to openly carry a firearm, but those in Montana can do so at age 14. Permit-holding guests in Montana will be able to carry a concealed weapon at age 18, but those in Wyoming will have to be at least 21.
In such cases, it will be up to the public to know where specific gun laws are in effect, Barna said. He said the NPS cannot post signs along every trail at every state border.
To help ease the transition, the NPS will hand out informational cards at visitor centers. Every park will post specific information on its Web site before the law takes effect.
The NPS is preparing park rangers for the law by briefing them on local and state gun regulations. The law will dramatically change the role of park rangers, said Scot McElveen, president of the Association of National Park Rangers.
Under current regulations, rangers can stop any park visitor for carrying a firearm. That lets them spot poachers and illegal hunters because they are among the only ones carrying firearms.
The new law will bar rangers in some parks from questioning visitors for carrying weapons. That will make rangers less able to prevent wildlife crimes because they will not be able tell poachers and guests apart, McElveen said. Rangers will soon have to catch poachers in the act to make an arrest, he said.
The new law will also make gun regulations harder to enforce, McElveen said.
"Some counties have laws," McElveen said. "For all we know, there could be a park that sprawls across three or four counties in a state."
The law has drawn ire and praise.
Bill Wade, chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said more guns will put both parks and rangers at risk.
"The more guns that are available in national parks ... the more likely that we're going to see shooting at wildlife, shooting at cultural resources," Wade said.
Even those with firearms training may not use guns wisely around animals, Wade said. For example, he said, if someone is startled by a large animal such as a grizzly bear, shooting at it is likely to provoke the bear to attack.
Alexa Fritts, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said the law will decrease confusion about state gun laws and allow park guests to defend themselves.
Fritts said park visitors should be allowed to use guns in self-defense, even if the odds of an attack are low.
"The chance is there, and one attack on a person by another person or an animal is too many," she said.
Although murders and robberies do occur in parks, national parks are safer on average than the rest of the country, Barna said.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Loaded Handguns
State laws (where this article is concerned) only apply to handguns carried for personal protection. Poachers will, likely as not, use rifles. Even the use of a sizable handgun will alert law enforcement officers of a problem. This would seem to be an incident involving a licensed person defending their self or a possible poacher. A person who has to defend his/herself from a violent attack will also report the incident to the rangers. A poacher won't.
Handgun license holders must have passed a noteworthy FBI background investigation to be issued the license, not unlike the background investigation that police officers must pass in order to carry their guns. Simply put; they are people who are not likely to be prone toward violence in the normal course of their daily lives.
Criminals and those prone toward violence can be expected to possess guns and other implements of crime. Criminals are classified as such because they routinely break the law and a law or regulation will not stop them from carrying guns now or in the future. This new law only makes it possible for those with licenses to be able to defend themselves in a national park jurisdiction just like they would in their home town.
As the law now reads, the licensed individuals cannot carry into any structures where federal employees normally work. Then only the criminals will try to bring guns there.
Firearms in Firearms in National Parks
Why do some folks think your right to defend yourself ends at a National Park boundry?
I've heard some folks won't go to National Parks because people will be carrying firearms. Really? They are around these very same folks every day and there are no problems.
Law abiding citizens will be law abiding citizens, no matter where they are. There will be no more illegal activity in the Parks than there is now. This hype by Rangers and previous park employes is unfounded.
We heard the the same lame comments for the last 20 years, every time another state added concealed carry laws. Much ado about nothing! Visit your parks just like you always have and enjoy
Firearms in National Parks
I totally agree with Stu Strickler. There is no real documented evidence that law abiding persons carrying openly or via a concealed permit have ever been involved in a crime using a firearm.
The folks the rangers need to worry about didn't stop carrying guns in the parks!
As a former police officer I have never been worried about any one lawfully carrying their sidearm.
I applaud the bill. It's about time law abiding citizens aren't penalized for nothing.
Firearms in National Parlks
That should read Firearms in National Parks!
This would not have included all legal firearms in the state. The Brady Campaign caused this to become Federal Law, instead of just a National Park Regulation that would have only allowed handguns by permit holders.
Thanks to the Brady Bunch! Never thought I would say that!
Firearms in National Parks
Finally we can be legal. I put a revolver in my packsack for years. Never had to fire it, but came close once as some careless campers left a pile of corn at the other campsite on the island. Boy did we have bears that night. My wife and dog remained safe, but I was ready if needed. Didn't know it was illegal at that time, since we went fishing and camping in the area since before it was a national park.
Firearms in Parks
"...and the Appalachian Trail winds through nine."
Actually, it crosses 14 states.
Criminals will ignore this law, as they do others....
It is good legislation as it will allow citizens (not "guests"-they own the parks!)to legally possess the means with which to effectively defend themselves.
I agree Doug! It is hard to
I agree Doug! It is hard to be a "guest" in a place that the tax paying citizens of this country own.
NPS
We always hear these histerical scenerios about what is going to happen when citizens are allowed to carry sidearms to protect themselves and they never materialize. Park Rangers jobs will be SAFER in the future now that law abiding citizens can protect themselves and their neighbors. The predators that have waited on the trails for their defenseless victims will now have to wait somewhere else to be assured their next victim does not have a handgun. National Parks will no longer be classified as "Gun-Free Slaughter Zones".
And enjoy your visit to
And enjoy your visit to Fantasy Island National Park, Mr. Anonymous Texan!
Evil Rays At Borders
Whenever I read the hysterical comments by the top officials of the CNPSR and others decrying the repeal of this ban, I have to wonder one thing: What strange rays emanate from the invisible borders of these parks that would turn peaceable, law-abiding, harmless armed citizens in the raving criminals and poachers the CNPSR and the Brady Campaign seem to fear?
The Ozarks Scenic Riverways National Park consists of two-mile wide strip through the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. The boundaries are generally not marked in any way. Firearms possession within the National Forest is regulated by Missouri state law. Legal hunting is a normal activity there and any poachers are caught and punished for their crimes. Why should anyone expect any different behavior or results on the NPS side of those boundaries?
The need for self defense is real in these parks. For years, meth and marijuana producers have been infiltrating the more remote areas as ideal places to manufacture or grow their product. On weekends and during the summer hoards of people flood the parks and not all of those visitors are, let us say, upstanding. The NPS Rangers do their best but the fact remains that crimes, including rape and robbery, happen miles from the nearest ranger station. Since both victims and perpetrators often live miles, even states away, these crimes are rarely reported to officials but the campground and canoe rental vendors with whom I've spoken acknowledge that such crimes are not uncommon.
In short, we welcome the implementation of this new law.
94 year NPS gun ban
I'm not sure where your reporter is getting this info, but in fact the ban was put into effect by Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s. Maybe my math is off, but that doesn't sound anything like 94 years to me.
It's about time this ban was lifted
Right now in about 40 states it is perfectly legal for law abiding citizens carry loaded handguns around with them in public every day. It has not been a public safety problem in those states so it's hard to imagine why being able to carry a loaded handgun in a truly massive National Park, where law enforcement resources are so scarce that they are practically non-existent, would pose a problem.
Bad guys already carry guns in National Parks without regard to legal prohibitions. Knowing that their potential prey may be armed as well will provide an effective deterrent. And as one who hikes with my family many miles into the wilderness in wolf and bear territory, having a firearm is tremendously comforting.
Lifting this ban is long overdue.
Gun Ban law only hurt the law abiding people
For the short and sweet of it...GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE...PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE... before the invention of firearms they used knives, arrows, sticks and stones... get over yourselves people...maybe you should ban everything that kills people....more people are killed by the automobile than guns on any given day , more automobiles are used in violent crimes than guns on any given day. But you don't see the people trying to ban these things do you... get over it and grow a BRAIN.
gun band in national parks
I agree with kenneth's statement get over yourself and grow a brain you should be able to protect yourself in a national park. You hear more on auto accidents.people kill pepole.who do you think pulls the trigger?????
The federal government will
The federal government will lift long-standing restrictions on guns in National Parks Monday, meaning that visitors with proper permits could pack heat along with camping and picnic gear to most of the 392 parks.