Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg, Utah’s Rob Bishop and Georgia’s Paul Broun have introduced the Firearms Freedom on Federal Lands Act. The proposed legislation is designed to appeal to their gun-clinging voter base. I mean, “prevent the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior from issuing or enforcing any regulation or executive order, including presidential declarations authorized under the Antiquities Act, that prohibit an individual from possessing a firearm on lands managed by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management (BLM).” Hang on; didn’t the feds just authorize firearms in America’s national parks? Why do we need this, then?
“Until last year, when Congress stepped in to correct the problem, tthe National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prevented visitors from carrying firearms on federally controlled National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges,” Rehberg’s press release reveals.”However, no such statute prevents the Forest Service or BLM from issuing similar restrictions banning guns on lands under their management. Visitors choosing to bring a firearm onto these lands would continue to be governed under state law.”
So it’s a proactive prohibition against a prospective prohibition, closing the Forest Service loophole. Nice bill if you can get it.
