Due to political pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA), the Bush Administration has announced it will reopen the National Park Service's longstanding regulation that requires gun owners to keep their guns unloaded and stored while in national park units that do not permit hunting.

This action comes after the NRA pressured a number of Senators to send Interior Secretary Kempthorne a letter that incorrectly stated that the National Park Service "prohibits" individuals from having guns in parks. More recently, Senator Coburn of Oklahoma tried to attach an amendment onto a bi-partisan and non-controversial public lands bill that would allow loaded guns in national parks. Sen. Coburn and Rep. Hensarling of Texas have since introduced freestanding legislation (S. 2619 and H.R. 5434, respectively) with the same misguided goal. The potential consequences of changing existing regulations include:

• Enhanced Opportunities for Poaching:  Poachers could operate with impunity in parks because possession and display of a weapon would no longer be probable cause to initiate a search for evidence of wildlife or wildlife parts. Park rangers would be unable to distinguish poachers from other individuals who may be hiking on trails with firearms. Increased poaching would be the unfortunate result. According to the agency, 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. In 2006, the agency had 405 poaching incidents reported, however, many in the agency believe only a small percentage of all poaching incidents are reported. Black bear and deer poaching are so bad at Shenandoah National Park that the park has had to close down Skyline Drive at night during the hunting season for the past 28 years to impede poachers. Poachers prize black bear gallbladders in particular, which can be sold overseas for thousands of dollars.

• Increased Temptation To Conduct Opportunistic Poaching: Some visitors may be tempted into poaching or harassing wildlife if the right opportunity in parks presents itself.  Often such illegal acts of opportunity require two elements: desirable wildlife to be present and a readily accessible loaded firearm.  Allowing for loaded firearms in the parks will make these illegal acts even more prevalent than it already is, thus reducing the opportunity for families to easily view wildlife.

• Parks Will No Longer Be Viewed as Safe:  The public visits parks now with the reassurance that they are some of the safest places in the world.  The crime rate is exceedingly low. According to the National Parks Service, 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. Cuyahoga Valley National Park has had only a handful of incidents involving guns since the creation of the park 34 years ago despite the fact that it sits between two of the most densely populated urban areas—Cleveland and Akron—in Ohio.  Park staff is concerned that if there is a change in the guns rules for the parks that not only will park visitors feel less safe, but that park rangers will necessarily need to be more wary of park visitors. 

• Increases Potential for Unpleasant Family Experiences:  Viewing individuals carrying weapons may upset visiting families.  National parks are destinations for families from across the country and around the world. If state gun laws were to apply to national parks, then visitors would be allowed to walk around freely with loaded semi-automatic firearms within the Wyoming portion of Yellowstone National Park. This could make many families very uncomfortable.

• Creates New Safety Hazards:  Some individuals, who may be uneasy in the wilds of national parks may feel a false sense of security if they had loaded and accessible firearms.  Some visitors with firearms may take increased risks and get closer to wildlife and/or end up using their firearm to get themselves out of unsafe situations. For instance, someone may shoot at the ground around a bear to scare it off, or even shoot the bear itself, if the individual gets too close. This scenario is dangerous for two reasons: First, someone who discharges a gun in park could shoot another visitor. Second, a wild animal that is wounded by a bullet would pose a significant threat to the visitor and others visiting the park.

• Increases Opportunities for Vandalism: Fragile park natural resources, such as cacti found in Saguaro National Park and Death Valley National Park, or certain wildlife species, such as the desert tortoise, not to mention national park signage, may become victims of target practice.

• Creates Confusion for Visitors to Parks that Straddle Multiple States: Death Valley National Park is located within both California and Nevada. However, the two states have dramatically divergent gun laws. In Nevada, there are no state restrictions on the sale or possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines ranging up to 75 rounds. Nevada also doesn't require that criminal background checks on all firearm sales. California, on the other hand, restricts the sale of all semiautomatic assault weapons, such as semi-automatic versions of AK47s and Uzis, and limits magazines in excess of 10 rounds. The state also requires universal background checks on all firearms. Since there is no state line running through Death Valley National Park, how are visitors and park rangers to know which state's guns laws would apply? What if rangers were pursuing someone in CA because of their illegal weapons, but the individual made it into NV, would NV law then apply? Would the Park Service need to put stakes in the ground every ten feet so gun owners know what state they're in?
  
  Another example is Great Smoky Mountains National Park. North Carolina prohibits possession of firearms by regulation within any park.  In fact, state law even prohibits slingshots.  Tennessee law appears to apply to possession of certain firearms with no lawful purpose. Which law would apply in Great Smoky Mountains National Park?  Would these or other state laws apply to possession and transport of firearms through a national park?