Statement to the Field: Firearms Legislation

Acting Director Dan Wenk issued the following statement to the field on the afternoon of Friday, May 22nd, regarding the firearms legislation passed by Congress:

“The National Park Service will follow Congress’s directive and implement the new firearms law, which states that its provisions will take effect nine months from today. For the time being, the current Reagan Administration regulations governing possession of firearms in national parks remain in place. Under the current regulation, firearms are generally prohibited, but citizens may transport unloaded and dismantled or cased firearms and carry firearms while participating in approved hunting programs and under certain other circumstances.

“As Interior prepares to implement the new law, the Department will work to understand and interpret its implications for our national parks, with public safety and the safety of our employees as our foremost consideration. Because possession of loaded weapons on national park lands will be governed by varying state firearms laws once the new law is implemented, the Department will provide guidance to the more than 20,000 professionals who manage our parks and the more than 275 million people who visit our parks each year.”

Additional information, including a PDF file with a poster that can be used in the field, can be obtained by clicking on the link below.