Key Public Lands Bill...Held at Gunpoint?

As reported in the Missoulian recently, an important and uncontroversial public lands bill in the Senate has been complicated by the National Rifle Association’s proposal to change gun rules in national parks.  Currently, guns are allowed, but must be unloaded and properly stored.

The proposal was pushed by Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn and is endorsed by 47 other senators, including Montana Senator Max Baucus and Senator Jon Tester.  Those lawmakers penned a Dec. 14 letter to Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, asking that rules be changed to allow loaded guns in national parks.

The Coburn amendment would forbid Interior from enforcing “any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm in any unit of the National Park System or the National Wildlife Refuge System.”

Neither Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund nor its publication, Congressional Watch take positions on gun legislation, as our focus pertains to issues affecting public health, lands and wildlife. 

We report this news because the current wrangling over the Coburn amendment is holding up critical funding for federal public lands and wildlife habitat, including assistance for national park trails, infrastructure and proposed national park study sites. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) drew up an alternative public lands bill without the gun-rule changes and has referred to the firearm amendment as a “poison pill” for the broader national parks funding bill.  (See Congressional Quarterly, 2/11/08)

For more information, visit:

National Parks Conservation Association 

Billings Gazette, "Gazette Opinion: No good reason for loaded guns in U.S. parks" 2/29/08

Missoulian, "Parks' gun rules may change" 2/13/08