Dear Colleague:

Last week, House and Senate leaders added the Altmire amendment to the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act to prevent the federal government from banning hunting and fishing on certain parts of federal land. At the time this amendment was added, the right of Americans to carry concealed firearms on park lands and wildlife refuges, in accordance with State law, was already recognized in the Code of Federal Regulations. However, on March 19, 2009, Washington, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly single-handedly decided to block this common sense Second Amendment policy.

Now, there is a giant hole in the current Altmire language and we have an amendment that will fix it.

By adopting our amendment, which will write into the law the very protections struck down by this one federal judge, Congress can restore the ability of Americans to carry concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges in accordance with State law.

Congress must not allow one federal judge to single-handedly deny Americans their Second Amendment rights on federal land.

Gun owners shouldn’t lose their Second Amendment rights simply because they’re standing or driving on federal land. In fact, when Americans travel through parts of the Virginia suburbs just outside of D.C., they frequently drive on Park Service land. This judge’s ruling subjects citizens to two contradictory sets of regulations simply because their car moved a few feet. Congress has a responsibility to hold a vote and set policy, not leave it to the whims of bureaucrats and federal judges.

Please join us in defending the Second Amendment by supporting a rule for H.R.146, the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, that allows us to offer our amendment to restore gun rights on public lands.

Sincerely,

/s
Doc Hastings
Ranking Republican Member
House Natural Resources Committee

/s
Rob Bishop
Ranking Republican Member
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Read the full Dear Colleague HERE.