Court strikes down rule that allows guns in parks

A federal judge last week restored rules that keep concealed weapons out of national parks.

The injunction, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, ruled that the new gun rules were implemented in an "astoundingly flawed process."

The new rules would have allowed gun owners with a concealed weapons permit to carry those weapons in national parks.

That resulted in outcry from several groups, including the National Parks Conservation Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The court ruling, issued last Friday, reinstates the old rules, which allowed guns in parks, but they have to be inaccessible and unloaded.

The old rules were formulated in the Reagan administration. The rule change to allow guns in parks was widely supported, however, by Montana's congressional delegation. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus and Congressman Denny Rehberg all supported allowing concealed weapons in the parks.

Glacier Park officials openly criticized the rule change and worried that it would result in animals in Glacier being shot.

The National Rifle Association, which pushed for the rule change, was promising an appeal of the court ruling.

There is also a movement in Congress to codify the rule change, making a law that will allow concealed weapons in national parks.