Guns in National Parks

NOTE: The following statement was delivered at the beginning of a media call-in conference on February 25, 2008, organized by the National Parks Conservation Association. In addition to CNPSR, other participants included the Association of National Park Rangers and the U.S. Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police.

STATEMENT OF DOUG MORRIS, MEMBER OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, CNPSR

My name is Doug Morris and I recently retired from a 40 year career with the National Park Service during which I served as a ranger, a trainer, and as a park superintendent. I represent the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, a group with over 640 members who bring a total of over 19,000 years of experience working in our national parks.

Based upon our diverse experience we are strongly opposed to the proposal that would allow visitors to carry loaded firearms in our national parks. It is a terrible idea for many reasons.

First of all, it represents an attempt by the NRA to advance their agenda by inventing a problem that doesn’t exist. Loaded guns have been prohibited in national parks since the 1930's. These rules work, and have long contributed to the indisputable fact that our national parks are among the safest places in America. They have also been an essential part of our efforts to protect wildlife and prevent poaching. Key to the success of this regulation is public support. Experience tells us that park visitors, including hunters and gun owners, seem to understand that parks are special places, and that loaded guns are not needed and are not appropriate.

The change in regulations advocated by the NRA, however, could break what is not broken and change the nature of our national parks. We know that more and more of our visitors are urban based and often out of their comfort zone while enjoying their national parks. Unfortunately, we have seen incidents where an impulsive and inexperienced visitor has used lethal force when perceiving even the slightest threat from a bison, a bear, an alligator, or even a much smaller animal. Under the regulations advocated by the NRA, park wildlife would be in far greater danger as more people would arm themselves with a gun and a false sense of security. Equally dangerous, routine disagreements in campgrounds, parking lots, restaurants, and lodges are more likely to turn lethal, just as they too often do in the cities and rural areas around parks where state laws provide for easy access to loaded firearms. And, of course, the propaganda by NRA that existing rules are inconsistent and hard to understand is ludicrous. What can be easier to understand than current regulations, which apply a long established single set of rules throughout our national system of parks?

Apart from these practical considerations, however, is the greater concern presented by this proposal, for it demonstrates total disregard for how our society values its national parks. The propaganda of the NRA suggests that we should regulate firearms so that parks are no different than other federal and state lands. Their proposal seems based on the notion that national parks are no more than an extension of the State they occupy. I trust that the outcome of this debate will be a clear message that they are wrong. Moreover, I hope that the outcome will be reaffirmation that national parks are truly unique and special, and remain a national system that represents the best landscapes and best stories in our country. Millions and millions of our citizens, and visitors from throughout the world, come to our national parks because they are unique and special. They are places where society joins for retreat and inspiration, and sometimes to openly share the values they find there with strangers. These are among the reasons that national parks are on that short list of places in our country where there is a consensus that loaded guns are not needed and are not appropriate. Our national parks should not become simply another notch in the NRA gunbelt.