Pistol-Packin' Visitors Now Allowed in National Parks

Congress ditches federal gun restrictions
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2010 3:25 AM CST
Pistol-Packin' Visitors Now Allowed in National Parks
Wildlife photographers watch a herd of bison along Soda Butte Creek in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park.   (AP Photo / William Kronholm, File)

Be extra nice to the people you meet in Yellowstone—it's now legal for visitors to carry loaded, concealed guns there and in other national parks. Congress has stripped federal firearms restrictions in the parks, leaving limits up to the states where they're located. For nearly a century, the National Park Service has required patrons to keep their guns disassembled and in the trunks of their cars while on park premises.

"Now it's a big sea of gun freedom," gun rights advocate Mike Stollenwerk tells the Los AngelesTImes. "The idea is that the same rule that applies on Main Street will apply to the national park." The new rules could get complicated, however, in instances where a park crosses the borders of states with different gun laws. Over 30 national parks span more than one state.
(More gun laws stories.)

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