Should Firearms Be Allowed In National Parks?
by Allie Comeau on July 24, 2008 
2 comments
The U.S. National Park Service ban on concealed weapons may soon be lifted. The National Rifle Association is leading a motion to lift the decades-old ban on guns in our national parks.
Gun laws have been a longstanding point of controversy in not only national parks, but the United States as a whole. But the question of whether or not people should be allowed to carry guns in nationally designated and protected recreational areas is a battle at the forefront of the war.
Some people believe we should have stricter rules governing firerarms, while other groups, most notably the NRA, believe we should have less. The NRA claims the ban goes against our Second Amendment rights to bear firearms. But some people think the NRA’s lax attitude to gun laws contributes to crime.
Doug Morris, retired park ranger and member of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, adamantly opposes the National Rifle Association-led effort to lift the decades-old ban on concealed weapons in the parks. In his many years of supervising the parks, he’s seen visitors shoot wildlife and fire guns off at night in crowded campgrounds. “Nothing is broken about the existing rule,” he says.
On the other side of the coin, David Yates, a gun activist, says he no longer visits national parks because he thinks the ban on firearms is unlawful. “I won’t go there because they make a political issue out of preventing somebody from defending themselves,” Yates said.
If lifted, those with permits for concealed weapons would be allowed to carry them in national parks, as long it’s also legal in that park under that particular state’s law. Rifles and shotguns would remain illegal, as would carrying guns out in the open.
The decision on whether or not to lift the ban has been postponed until August 8th so that the public may comment on it. If this issue is of concern to you, you can post your comments online by following instructions at Regulations.gov.
In my personal opinion, I don’t like the idea of firearms in national parks, but I’m well aware that many people disagree.
What do you think? Should the U.S. National Park Service lift the concealed weapons ban?
August 1st, 2008 @ 8:59 am
I personally think these NRA types are more wrapped up in their own egos that anything else. There is no reason you would ever need a gun in a national park. As far as self defense goes, why would you ever need a pistol in the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone? Bear mace would be more effective than a gun against wildlife and nobody gets mugged in a national park (and even if someone tried - you have a huge can of bear mace!). The right to bear arms is fine, at your home, and I don’t see anything wrong with going hunting. But when it comes down to it, a person only carries a concealed handgun around with them for one of two reasons: they are either insecure or they’re on a power trip, probably both.
May 20th, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
I worry for little kids, you know that I have visited a National Park called Big Sur. I have visited two national parks without Guns. I have a pretty good grudge anti-guns or no guns period. I think that the Polluters need to pay Carbon Taxes and Save the National Parks without Tech for three Months.
Until Guns are Not allowed in a National Park. I am not going to any one of them. I want guns banned again and again. If I have to have Petitions and a Permit in hand and signed by thousands against guns. I don’t want to see a gun with in National Parks of 10,000 feet of little kids or adults.