Floated first by Congress and later considered by the White House, the plan would remove the current rule - guns are allowed, but they must be properly stowed - and replace it with a wide range of rules - each national park would abide by the gun regulations of its local jurisdiction.
The proposal was to reach decisionmakers early this summer, following public comment. But on June 26, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D- Hawaii, and Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., wrote Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting an extension.
They also wrote that the public comment extension was necessary because of recent Supreme Court rulings on gun regulation.
Critics - including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Association of National Park Rangers, the U.S. Park Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, a group whose 640 members have a combined 19,000 years working in the nation's parks - also wrote Interior requesting the extension.
They have argued allowing guns in parks will increase violent encounters between visitors and will lead to additional wildlife poaching. Tourists scared by a noise in the night, critic argue, might be compelled to open fire in crowded campgrounds.
They also have questioned how the move might affect international tourism at what are now considered “family friendly” national parks.
In April, seven former directors of the National Park Service wrote Kempthorne in opposition to the change, noting that “in all our years with the National Park Service, we experienced very few instances in which this (current) limited regulation created confusion or resistance. There is no evidence that any potential problems that one can imagine arising from the existing regulations might overwhelm the good they are known to do.”
But the National Rifle Association - which helped write the new plan - and other proponents say citizens must be allowed to carry guns for their own safety, and argue the right on constitutional grounds.
In announcing the proposal now under review, Kempthorne said the new rules would take into account recent changes to laws governing guns in federal buildings, as well as gun laws in individual states.
It would, he said, preserve the “values of our public lands, including the safety and enjoyment of all visitors, while enhancing local control and respecting an individual's Second Amendment right to bear arms.”
The current regulations date to the 1930s, and were last updated during the Reagan administration.
Among those in Congress who initially backed the proposed changes were Montana's top Democrats, Sen. Max Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester, both of whom signed a letter asking for consideration of the rule change.
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