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In Shenandoah National Park, black bears are illegally hunted for their gallbladders for sale in illegal markets. Allowing loaded guns in parks could make the problem much worse.

Write to the Department of Interior today!

Fact Sheet

Guns in the Parks

Proposed Rule

General Regulations for Areas Administered by the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service

Press Releases

Gun Regulations in National Parks: Open For Public Comment (and Confusion)

04/30/08

Supreme Court Decision On Heller Case May Impact Firearms Safety Regs in Our National Parks

04/17/08

Former National Park Directors: Loaded Guns Are a Bad Idea

04/03/08

Teleconference

Keep Parks Safe
02/25/08

Keep Parks Safe:
Say No To Loaded Guns in Our National Parks

This is one of the most serious matters NPCA has brought to your attention in a long time. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been pushing hard to allow loaded guns in America's national parks. Under intense political pressure orchestrated by the NRA, the Bush Administration recently proposed new regulations that would allow visitors to carry loaded, concealed firearms in national parks if the state where a national park unit is located permits people to carry concealed firearms in their state parks. Mandating that national park units abide by state park gun laws will be confusing to both visitors and park rangers and would force the creation of a new, complex (and costly) gun bureaucracy.

The NRA is trying to fix a problem that does not exist. Under the current firearm safety and uniformity regulations it is NOT UNLAWFUL to have firearms in national parks; they just have to be unloaded and safely stowed. It is a limited and reasonable requirement that enables rangers to do the job of protecting park resources and ensuring visitor safety. The current regulations, which were updated in 1983 under the Reagan Administration, have been successful at maintaining our national parks as safe family destinations. If fact, statistics show that the probability of becoming a victim of a violent crime in a national park is 1 in 708,333, which is less likely than being struck by lightening during one’s lifetime.

The Bush Administration will be accepting comments on their proposal until June 30. We hope you will join the Association of National Park Rangers, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, all seven surviving former Directors of the National Park Service, and the National Parks Conservation Association in voicing your opinion on this important issue by letting them know the existing rules should continue.

Send Your Comments to the Department of Interior > >