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Washington D.C.- Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, today praised Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and the Department of the Interior’s proposed updates to national park and wildlife refuge regulations. Under the new regulations, law-abiding citizens would be allowed to possess, carry, and transport concealed and operable firearms in national parks and refuge areas in the same way they would on similar state land. The decision reversed a 25 year old regulation that banned firearms in national parks – regardless of state and local laws.
Earlier this year, Hensarling and Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) introduced the Protecting Americans from Violent Crime Act of 2008 (H.R. 5434) to prohibit the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service’s inconsistent and unconstitutional regulations that ban law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms on land managed by these agencies. The bill is a House companion to Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) Senate legislation.
“I am pleased that Secretary Kempthorne has reviewed and updated the Department’s regulations to recognize the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who visit national parks,” said Hensarling. “This is a victory for citizens who choose to exercise their constitutional right to protect themselves and their families while enjoying America’s vast natural landscape. We must never allow bureaucrat-birthed regulations to take precedence over state laws and the constitutional rights of the American people.”
“Though this represents progress, we must continue to ensure every American’s Second Amendment rights. Since I am absolutely certain that a Democrat administration would reverse this decision given the opportunity, Congress must act,” explained Hensarling. “We can remove this important issue from the hands of Washington bureaucrats by passing the Protecting Americans from Violent Crime Act of 2008. Conservatives in the House will continue to work on behalf of every law-abiding American citizen by ensuring that their Second amendment rights are permanently protected on all of our nation’s federal lands.”
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