A Nixon-era prohibition of guns on federal property controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be lifted under a proposal offered by a group of House Republicans.
Army Corps sites are among the few federally-controlled lands where gun-carrying isn’t allowed. The Army Corps, which controls 12 million acres of land around lakes and rivers, banned carrying loaded guns on its lands in the early 1970s.
Under a bill by Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, H.R.. 664, concealed carry permit holders could bring their weapons on to water resources development projects owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — often prime hunting grounds. Gibbs and House Republican co-sponsors contend the areas shouldn’t be treated differently than other federal lands where guns are permitted for recreational purposes.
For example, under a 2009 law, National Park Service and National Fish and Wildlife Service lands are open to concealed carry permit holders.
“The exclusion of Army Corps water resources development projects is a classic case of the government’s left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” Gibbs said in a statement. “If an American has lawfully obtained a concealed-carry permit, he or she should be able to exercise their constitutional rights on federal recreation lands, regardless of the agency.”
Dallas Gerber, Gibbs’ deputy chief of staff, told the Washington Examiner that the measure “is at the nexus of two issues Congressman Gibbs feels passionately about: the Second Amendment and cleaning up the government.”
The proposal has been introduced in prior Congresses but failed to make it into law. In 2013, then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said permitting more guns “endangers people” and “sets up a national security threat.”
With the House now under Democratic control, the National Rifle Association-backed proposal faces long odds. But with gun rights still a powerful issue even in many Democratic districts, the measure could pick up some bipartisan support, as it previously has.
“While it is not a secret that the current Democrat majority is openly hostile to the Second Amendment, Rep. Gibbs is hopeful they can see the clear inconsistency here for law-abiding citizens with concealed-carry permits,” Gerber said.
So far, only Republicans have co-sponsored the legislation, including Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas.
“The Army Corps of Engineers projects are the most visited of any federal agency cited, receiving hundreds of millions of visitors,” Gohmert said in a statement to the Washington Examiner, citing a 2015 Congressional Research Service report. “Our Second Amendment rights should not be limited to certain areas that bureaucrats dictate. Law-abiding gun owners should be able to carry when they are camping, hunting, and fishing on the 11.7 million acres of property owned and managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.”
