Under pressure for a deadline extension, the Department of Interior has pushed the deadline for public comment on the rules change for handguns in national parks to August 8th.

Senator Daniel Akaka, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks and Congressman Raul Grijalva, Chair of the House subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, sent a letter to Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asking for the extension.

Currently, the rules in most national parks in Alaska state that guns are allowed in parks as long as they are unloaded and properly stowed. The new regulation proposes allowing an individual to carry a concealed weapon in national parks and wildlife refuges, if the individual has a permit and is authorized to do so on similar state lands in the state where the park or refuge is located.

The Secretary of Interior is under pressure from the National Rifle Association to change the regulation put in place in the early 1980s. The NRA would like laws across the board to be consistent. They site the second amendment as well as personal safety issues.

The Denali Citizens Council, a watchdog and advocacy group for Denali National Park has questioned what the law change would mean for Denali. They are concerned that concealed weapons would be allowed on tour and shuttle buses.

To read the proposal and go to the federal regulations website click on the links to this story on our website at ktna.org

http://ktna.org/topics.php?aid=654