The National Rifle Association (NRA) is pushing hard to force loaded guns in America’s national parks. Under intense political pressure orchestrated by the NRA, the Bush Administration has 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 likely be confusing to both visitors and park rangers and would force the creation of a new, complex (and costly) gun bureaucracy.

There is no demonstrated need to change the existing regulations. The current firearm safety and uniformity regulations have been successful at maintaining our national parks as safe and peaceful family destinations. In 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.

Tens of thousands of citizens from across the country have joined small business owners, public health officials, law enforcement officers, six former park service directors and others in voicing their support for the National Park Service’s current common-sense rules that merely require park visitors to store and unload their weapons when traveling through national parks. For more information on the proposed rule change, please visit: www.npca.org/keep_parks_safe

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized .