WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today issued the following statement following the announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reverse its policy to suspend the Second Amendment in National Parks, instead deferring to state-specific laws regulating the legal possession of firearms.  Rehberg is a long-time advocate for the protection of gun rights on all federal lands, including national parks and wilderness.

“While big city forest administrators have been trained to think anyone with a gun is a threat, Montanans realize that in the wild of a national park, having a firearm can mean the difference between life and death,” said Rehberg.  “We don’t give up our rights to freedom of speech or freedom of the press just because we step foot into a National Park, why should the right to bear arms be any different?”

On February 22, 2010, new regulations that allow visitors to possess firearms within a National Park will take effect.  These regulations end a long-term ban on firearm possession within the parks. 

Under the new regulations, visitors looking to bring a firearm into a National Park will be governed by state law.  Visitors to Glacier National Park will be subject to the laws of the State of Montana.  While visitors to Yellowstone National Park will be governed by the laws of Idaho, Montana or Wyoming based upon their location within the Park.

Montanans visiting Parks in other states should check with local law enforcement within those communities before attempting to enter the Park while in possession of a firearm.

Here are also some links on the gun laws in Idaho, Wyo. And MT:

Idaho: http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbystate/f/gunlaws_id.htm
Wyoming: http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbystate/f/gunlaw_wy.htm
Montana: http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbystate/a/gunlaws_mt.htm