Visitors to Big Bend National Park may have encountered signs that read “Loaded Firearms Prohibited.” But because of a bill passed last summer they could soon be replaced by signs that read “Loaded Concealed Weapons Okay.”
Not everyone is happy: “The national parks are one of the safest places to be,” said Don Dowdy, president of the Big Bend Sierra Club. “I don’t think loaded guns have any place in our national park system.”
During the Reagan Administration loaded firearms inside national parks were severely restricted. In his final 60 days as President, George W. Bush reversed the 25 year restriction, allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons in national parks.
“Protecting Americans from Violent Crimes” is the provision sanctioned by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) that will allow concealed weapons inside national parks beginning on February 10, 2010. It was stitched into a credit card reform bill that was approved on Capitol Hill in May 2009.
Read more about new guns laws in other National Parks.
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