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Don't Take Away Loaded Gun Restrictions In National Parks

America's national parks embody the American spirit. They are vital to the survival of many animal species, and offer countless educational experiences for children of all ages.

The National Park Service has reasonable guidelines about firearms in national parks. It is currently lawful to transport firearms through national parks as long as they are unloaded and stored.

But an amendment pending before the Senate could change gun policy in the parks and make it more difficult for the Park Service to enforce weapons restrictions as they apply from state to state. This is a bad idea for wildlife, for park rangers and for the thousands of families who visit the parks each year.

An amendment allowing loaded guns in the parks could:

  • Make poaching of park wildlife easier.
  • Change the relationship between rangers and visitors.
  • Create new safety hazards.

A group of Senators mistakenly thought all firearms were prohibited in parks. Please let them know there are meaningful and reasonable rules already in place.

Urge the Senate and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to say NO to the loaded guns in parks amendment.

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Dear Senator [Name] and Secretary Kempthorne,

I am writing to urge to say NO to the Coburn's "loaded guns in the parks" amendment.

For more than a year now, Coburn has been holding up a slew of public lands bills in the Senate. Coburn's amendment could jeopardize those bills, bills that are positive for our nation's public lands.

The amendment falsely claims that firearms cannot be taken into national parks. It also will create confusion and legal conflict across our popular, beloved and under-funded National Park System.

- Creates New Safety Hazards: Kite flying is prohibited in Gravelly Point, a parcel along the George Washington Memorial Parkway adjacent to Washington's Reagan National Airport, because threats to flight safety. It's conceivable that the Coburn amendment would allow loaded, ready to fire weapons on that same spot.

- Makes It Harder to Protect Our Nation's Icons: At beloved icons, such as Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Cape Canaveral, or the St. Louis Arch, it could be more difficult to protect visitors against terrorism.

- Increases Opportunities for Vandalism: Fragile park natural resources, such as cacti found in Saguaro National Park, or remote cultural resources found in many of our parks will more likely become the victims of vandalism through target practice.

- Makes Poaching of Park Wildlife Easier: Poachers could operate with impunity because rangers could lack the authority to question individuals about their loaded weapons. The agency believes that poaching is a significant factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks. For example, in Shenandoah National Park, black bears are illegally hunted for their gallbladders, which are used in traditional Asian medicines.

- Creates Confusion for Visitors to Parks that Straddle Multiple States: Death Valley is in California and Nevada. Yellowstone is in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of these states have very different firearms laws. Which state laws will apply? How will visitors or park rangers readily understand such a confusing system?

- Changes Relationship Between Rangers and Visitors: Rangers approach visitors in most situations with the assumption that the visitors do not have loaded weapons on them. The Coburn amendment would change that dynamic and cause rangers to be more suspicious and wary when meeting visitors, especially in the back country.

[Your comment here]

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
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- Creates New Safety Hazards: Kite flying is prohibited in Gravelly Point, a parcel along the George Washington Memorial Parkway adjacent to Washington's Reagan National Airport, because threats to flight safety. It's conceivable that the Coburn amendment would allow loaded, ready to fire weapons on that same spot. - Makes It Harder to Protect Our Nation's Icons: At beloved icons, such as Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Cape Canaveral, or the St. Louis Arch, it could be more difficult to protect visitors against terrorism. - Increases Opportunities for Vandalism: Fragile park natural resources, such as cacti found in Saguaro National Park, or remote cultural resources found in many of our parks will more likely become the victims of vandalism through target practice. - Makes Poaching of Park Wildlife Easier: Poachers could operate with impunity because rangers could lack the authority to question individuals about their loaded weapons. The agency believes that poaching is a significant factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks. For example, in Shenandoah National Park, black bears are illegally hunted for their gallbladders, which are used in traditional Asian medicines. - Creates Confusion for Visitors to Parks that Straddle Multiple States: Death Valley is in California and Nevada. Yellowstone is in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of these states have very different firearms laws. Which state laws will apply? How will visitors or park rangers readily understand such a confusing system? - Changes Relationship Between Rangers and Visitors: Rangers approach visitors in most situations with the assumption that the visitors do not have loaded weapons on them. The Coburn amendment would change that dynamic and cause rangers to be more suspicious and wary when meeting visitors, especially in the back country. [Your comment here] Sincerely, [Your name] [Your address]

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