NPS RETIREES: CURRENT GUN RULES FOR NATIONAL PARKS ARE WORKING, SHOULD NOT BE WEAKENED

WASHINGTON, D.C.///February 4, 2008///Prior to a possible vote this week, the 635-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) today warned the U.S. Senate about an expected amendment to S. 2483 that would bar the U.S. Secretary of the Interior from continuing to enforce current rules that allow gun owners to have their guns unloaded and stored while visiting national parks.

CNPSR Executive Council Chair Bill Wade said: “There is absolutely no hue and cry among Americans today to change the current common-sense rule on guns in national parks that has been in place since the 1960’s or even earlier. This sensible regulation is working as intended to minimize poaching and ensure the highest possible level of safety for park visitors, rangers and irreplaceable natural resources and historic sites. Rangers are taught to use caution when contacting visitors involved with infractions of the regulations. An already tense situation of dealing with violators could be much more intense and perhaps more dangerous because the violator may also be carrying a gun pursuant to state regulations – even one hidden from view. ”

CNPSR Executive Council Member Denny Huffman added: “It is a hoax to suggest that there is some big demand out there for people to be able to tote semi-automatic weapons on the trails of Yellowstone or nine-millimeter pistols on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The current rules in no way prohibit guns in parks, but they do work to discourage that tiny percentage of irresponsible individuals who would engage in poaching and target practice at the expense of irreplaceable natural and historic sites. Responsible sportsmen and gun owners respect our national parks; they know that the current rule on guns is no infringement on their Second Amendment rights.”

Wade added: “Our overstretched and underfunded national parks do not have the staff required to deal with a major uptick in poaching activity. Parks are ‘living museums,’ set aside with the highest protection available and their own set of laws to carry out that mission. It is because these places are special, subject to the highest level of protection that you can even see the animals in Yellowstone, or Grand Canyon, or the Everglades. We don’t need to downgrade that protection when it has worked so well for so long.”

The current regulation in question simply does not prohibit guns in the parks. Under 36 CFR 2.4 (a)(2), weapons “may be possessed” in national parks so long as the guns are “rendered temporarily inoperable or are packed, cased or stored in a manner that will prevent their ready use.” This regulation was put in place to prevent the poaching of wildlife and to ensure visitor safety.

By contrast, the proposed Senate amendment would require parks to observe state gun laws. For example, since Wyoming has almost no limitations on guns, visitors could see persons with semi-automatic weapons in campgrounds and park trails at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Similarly, loaded guns would be permitted in such iconic locations as Mount Rushmore.

In its letter to U.S. Senators, the Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR) notes of the proposed regulations: “There is simply no legitimate or substantive reason for a thoughtful sportsman or gun owner to carry a loaded gun in a national park unless that park permits hunting. The requirement that guns in parks be unloaded and put away is a reasonable and limited restriction to facilitate a legitimate purpose—the protection of precious park resources and visitors’ safety. We urge you to protect park wildlife and visitors by voting “No” on Senator Coburn’s amendment.”