Former Park Service heads want to keep gun ban in national parks

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seven former National Park Service directors have signed a letter asking the Interior Department to leave a ban on loaded guns in national parks alone.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in February that his department would review the laws and propose revisions by the end of April. The decision was prompted by letters from more than half the Senate saying the current rules are confusing and unnecessary.

But the former directors say current rules make national parks among the safest places in the United States. The letter is signed by Park Service directors dating back to the Johnson administration, including the past four park chiefs.

Under current law, gun owners must unload their weapons and place them somewhere not easily accessible, like a car trunk.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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