Smith to Protect Second Amendment Rights

Press Release

Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) today voted for a legislative measure designed to allow visitors to national parks and wildlife public lands to possess firearms in accordance with federal, state, and local law. Smith is an original cosponsor of similar legislation (H.R. 1684). The measure passed 279 to 147.

On March 19, 2009, a Washington, D.C.-based district judge blocked a federal rule to allow citizens to carry concealed firearms in accordance with state laws in national parks and wildlife refuges.

According to the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2006 there were 16 homicides, 41 rape cases, 92 robberies, 16 kidnappings and 333 aggravated assaults handled by national park and refuge law enforcement.

"Unfortunately, visitors to our national parks have been subject to inconsistent and - quite frankly - unconstitutional regulations banning law-abiding citizens from carrying licensed firearms on government-managed land. If an American has the right to carry a firearm in their state, they shouldn't be treated like a criminal if they pass through a national park while in possession of a firearm," Smith said.

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