Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

National Park Service: Discharging Firearms for Self Defense Illegal
Gun Watch ^ | 23 October, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 10/27/2016 12:37:56 PM PDT by marktwain


Image from nbc29.com

The National Park Service is giving bad legal advice to people who visit their web page and attempt to find out about firearms policy at various national parks. 
For Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, they claim that firearms "cannot be used as a wildlife protection strategy". From nps.gov:

Federal law also prohibits firearms in certain facilities in this park (such as visitor centers, government offices, etc.); those places are marked with signs at all public entrances. Firearms may not be discharged in this national park (except during legal hunting seasons) and can not be used as a wildlife protection strategy. Bear spray and other safety precautions are the proven methods for preventing bear and other wildlife interactions. See the Bear Safety and Wildlife Viewing pages.
Having a firearm as a "wildlife protection strategy" is not illegal.  It is not something the park has any say over.  It is ruled by state law, not park regulations. The Supreme Court has ruled that the carry of firearms for self defense is a constitutional right, in Heller v. District of Columbia.

For Yosemite National Park in California, they claim that "Discharging a firearm for any reason is illegal." From nps.gov:
It is the responsibility of visitors to understand and comply with all applicable state, local, and federal firearms laws before entering this park. As a starting point, visit the California Attorney General's website.

Federal law also prohibits firearms in certain facilities in this park; those places are marked with signs at all public entrances. Discharging a firearm for any reason is illegal.
Discharging a firearm for defense of self and others is legal.  You may have to show that your purpose was defense, and that a reasonable person would have done what you did, but it is not illegal.

Going to the Frequently Asked Questions Implementation of Firearms Law link gives you this inept "DRAFT - Do Not Distribute" pdf. From nps.gov:



As this document is only a "draft" from 2010, that was never supposed to be distributed to the public, I would suggest this modest addition:

Q.  Why was the National Park Service allowed to ignore the Second Amendment for nearly a hundred years? 

A.  The ban on firearms was an administrative rule designed to reduce poaching in the parks.  As the penalties were small compared to the costs of challenging an administrative rule on constitutional grounds, the National Park Service ignored the Second Amendment until the people pushed Congress to act.

There are numerous other FAQs that some imaginative and paranoid person at NPS put together in this DRAFT.  It has stayed up at the site, never being updated, for the last six years.  One of the most amusing is this:
Q. I am frightened by firearms and am leaving the park. Can I have my entrance fee refunded? My annual pass refunded?

A. Park superintendents have the authority to provide a refund if the circumstances warrant it.
Have any refunds ever been given?  Perhaps it could be determined with a FOIA request.

The NPS is not known for its high level of competence. I suspect a mundane case of bureaucratic inertia, compounded by the usual lack of "blood in the streets" following the incremental restoration of Second Rights. From eenews.net:
Mark Magnuson, the chief ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, was hard-pressed to come up with examples of the law's effects. But one was immediate confusion from visitors.

"The year after the law change, we had several complaints from visitors about people openly carrying firearms -- which was now legal," he said. "So it was a little bit of an educational learning curve for members of the public, but not a huge deal." 
It is time for the National Park Service to move into the 21st Century, and do away with their 20th Century prejudices.

They should update their websites to reflect reality and update their hastily made DRAFT FAQs from 2010.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Government; Outdoors; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; firearm; nationalparks; selfdefense
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last
To: DJ Taylor

9mm against a Grizzly? Good way to get et.


21 posted on 10/27/2016 1:20:25 PM PDT by TalonDJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: GregoTX
Then why are Federal Park Rangers armed?


22 posted on 10/27/2016 1:21:41 PM PDT by Fightin Whitey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ichabod1

Here’s a 9mm bear save

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2016/8/10/alaska-outfitter-defends-fishermen-from-raging-grizzly-with-9mm-pistol/


23 posted on 10/27/2016 1:22:14 PM PDT by riverrunner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: ichabod1

“I wouldn’t feel good about shooting a bear with a 9mm”

It’s to shoot his wife in the knee.


24 posted on 10/27/2016 1:23:32 PM PDT by Jim Noble (Look out kid, they keep it all hid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: GregoTX

Because folks like to grow pot in National Parks and very protective of their ‘farms.’


25 posted on 10/27/2016 1:26:00 PM PDT by Little Ray (Freedom Before Security!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

But a raped and dead woman is morally superior to one who uses a gun to defend herself.


26 posted on 10/27/2016 1:29:53 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Conservatives love America for what it is. Liberals hate America for the same reason.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TalonDJ

My point is: If you aren’t properly armed, it’s best to stay out of Grizzly country. Personally, I wouldn’t want to take on a Grizzly with anything less than a 300 Weatherby Magnum, and that’s bare/bear minimum.


27 posted on 10/27/2016 1:30:00 PM PDT by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: DJ Taylor

Typical fed government “workers: many (if not most) are fools.


28 posted on 10/27/2016 1:32:14 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

NPS exists because of the Original RINO: Theodore Roosevelt. He began the unConstitutional history of violating States’ Rights by usurping lands for Federal use.

NPS is nothing more than Communism In Action.


29 posted on 10/27/2016 1:32:53 PM PDT by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - JRRT)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: riverrunner

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have it than not. But instead of “Don’t worry Honey, I got my 9mm” it would be more like “well hopefully we won’t have any trouble but if we do I can try to scare’em off with the 9.”


30 posted on 10/27/2016 1:35:00 PM PDT by ichabod1 (Make America Normal Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: GregoTX

killer squirrels


31 posted on 10/27/2016 2:12:49 PM PDT by blueplum ((March 11, 2016 - the day the First Amendment died?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: marktwain
I'm sure the relatives of Timothy Treadwell's girlfriend breathed a sigh of relief upon learning she would not face prosecution.


32 posted on 10/27/2016 2:13:28 PM PDT by katana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

So sue me!!!


33 posted on 10/27/2016 2:18:19 PM PDT by Ditter (God Bless Texas!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yo-Yo

Adam Kraut is occasionally a panel member on the podcast This Week In Guns. Pretty good show.


34 posted on 10/27/2016 3:32:05 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Vote for your guns!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: DJ Taylor

Upgrade to a 10mm, if you don’t want to be on the menu.


35 posted on 10/27/2016 4:23:40 PM PDT by D Rider
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: GregoTX

To shoot the politically incorrect. The Halbeschwarzefuhrer has so ordered this..


36 posted on 10/27/2016 4:38:02 PM PDT by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: sheik yerbouty
Halbeschwarzefuhrer

Das ist sehr gut, mein Freund.

37 posted on 10/27/2016 4:44:17 PM PDT by windsorknot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: katana

I believe his name i Timothy Snakwell


38 posted on 10/27/2016 6:01:45 PM PDT by kennyboy509 (Ha! I kill me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

Use the 3S program:
1. Shoot
2. Shovel
3. Shut up.


39 posted on 10/27/2016 8:52:55 PM PDT by MasterGunner01 ( To err is human, to forgive is not our policy. -- SEAL Team SIX:)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson