Washington, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Grijalva sent a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in opposition to the Interior Department proposal to change long-standing prohibitions on loaded guns within National Parks. Rep. Grijalva called the proposal unconscionable and stated that the proposed change would create grave risks for Park employees, visitors, and wildlife alike.

The Department of Interior proposed last month to change decades-old regulations that prohibit visitors from carrying loaded weapons. Under current regulations, weapons may be in the possession of visitors but must be unloaded and inaccessible, i.e., locked in a trunk or other storage container. This rule was enacted to protect visitors and employees, and as a measure to prevent poaching of wildlife in Parks.

“The last thing visitors to our National Parks should have to worry about is the idea that some of their fellow visitors could be packing heat as they tour the battlefield at Gettysburg, camp along a river in Yosemite, or visit the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” stated Rep. Grijalva. “There is a legitimate reason for keeping guns inaccessible in our Parks, and the Bush Administration’s attempt to roll back this important safety measure is nothing but pandering to the interest groups who would like to see any and all sensible restrictions on guns abolished.”

Click on the link below to view the letter.