In 2010, President Obama signed a credit card bill he desperately wanted. Inside the bill was an amendment removing the provision against exercising Second Amendment rights in national parks. A few people were offended. How dare the Constitution be allowed to be in effect in national parks!
Some writers have claimed while it is legal to carry guns in most national parks, it is illegal to fire guns in the park (such as Yellowstone), even in self-defense. From yellowstonepark.com:
Yes, you can carry a gun in Yellowstone. But it’s illegal to fire it – even in self defense. And once you exit Yellowstone, you could be in one of three states, so it’s important to know the law.
This claim was recently repeated at Cowboy State Daily, embellished somewhat:
Sorry, but if you’re attacked by a grizzly in Yellowstone, it is against the law for you to shoot it. Reaching for bear spray could be your best legal option as you can’t even point a firearm at wildlife there.
Both of these claims are incorrect. There is no prohibition on shooting guns in self-defense in national parks. The key, of course, is the firearm has to have been shot in self-defense. Because grizzly bears are a protected species both inside and outside national parks in the lower 48 states, the requirements for claiming self-defense against a grizzly bear are the same inside of Yellowstone National Park and outside the park in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).
During extensive research into the use of firearms for defense against bears, this correspondent has found five cases where firearms were fired in national parks, and self-defense was claimed.
Two of the cases were in the Grand Teton National Park, which shares a common boundary with Yellowstone National Park and is inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Two brothers were forced to kill a large grizzly bear when bear spray was not enough to stop the animal. The attack occurred on Thanksgiving day of 2012. Park officials and U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers investigated. The federal prosecutor declined to prosecute after investigators concluded the two acted in self-defense.
On August 15, 2015, a fisherman fired a warning shot to scare away a grizzly sow and cubs. He was issued a notice to appear in federal magistrate court. He had bear spray but said he could not have used it in the incident. This correspondent searched a year of public records and was unable to find any record of a conviction or fine being paid.
The only known attempted prosecution for an incident inside a park involved Brian D. Murphy, who shot a grizzly bear with a .357 revolver after bear spray did not stop the attack.
Murphy was charged with discharging a firearm in Glacier Park two months after the incident. When Murphy mounted a legal defense, the charges were dismissed. Two weeks after the self-defense grizzly bear shooting with Murphy, a hiker was issued a warning when he used a gunshot to summon aid.
On May 28, 2010, a hiker killed a grizzly bear in self-defense in Denali National Park in Alaska. He was not charged with any offense.
On September 20, 2020, a hunter in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park & Preserve, a man used a pistol to drive off a bear that had killed his hunting partner. He was not charged.
Because grizzly bears can be legally hunted in Alaska, the laws are different. This correspondent searched the database he maintains of when pistols are fired in defense against bears. 44 cases were found to have occurred in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from 2003 to the present. Five of the most recent cases are still being investigated to determine if a handgun or long gun was used. None of the 44 cases appear to have been prosecuted.
One person who killed a grizzly with a rifle in September of 2009 in the GYE was found guilty by a six-person jury of taking a grizzly bear without a license. The jury rejected his plea of self-defense. Judge Tim Day fined Stephen Westmoreland $500.
It is not illegal to fire a gun in Yellowstone in self-defense. If you kill a grizzly bear while in fear for your life, and a jury convicts you of illegal taking of a grizzly bear without a license, the precedent is a $500 fine.
There are a few states that restrict the carrying of firearms in parks. None of them appear to have grizzly bears.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
i have only had a couple of encounters with bears and neither time were the bears impressed or deterred by the presence of a firearm. i guess the bears did not get the memo.
The investigations will rival most homicide investigations. I carried a G40 with hardcast and yes the “3 states” all of which are friendly so don’t let them lie to you. Carry the gun shoot if necessary but only for yourself and loved ones. Let the idiot tourist die the death they chose with their selfies.
“There are a few states that restrict the carrying of firearms in parks. None of them appear to have grizzly bears.”
I believe that South Carolina is one such state. Whether DNR, the SC Forestry Commission, or other entity is responsible for it, this type of dumbassery fails to take into account two-legged predators, wild dogs, wild hogs, rabid animals, and like predators.
I enjoy wilderness backpacking on federal lands. I have made a point to make friends with law enforcement rangers who seem to do their job at a higher level of competence. Three things: (1) every LEO ranger with whom I have ever spoken has said, “You are crazy to go out there unarmed”; (2) the LEO rangers tell me that national parks operate according to the firearms laws in the states in which they are located, and (3) the LEO rangers have told me to save my life with handgun fire if necessary but prepare to be a test case… Read more »
On September 20, 2020, a hunter in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park & Preserve, a man used a pistol to drive off a bear that had killed his hunting partner. He was not charged. I would haunt this POS in his dreams. If anyone I was with was killed by a bear, I will kill it. He was no friend to him IMO. One person who killed a grizzly with a rifle in September of 2009 in the GYE was found guilty by a six-person jury of taking a grizzly bear without a license. The jury rejected his plea of self-defense.… Read more »
A common tactic by the anti’s is to claim things are illegal when they are not.