No Appeal of Court Ruling on Guns in Parks

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it will not appeal a court ruling that prohibits carrying loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.

Last month, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Federal District Court here struck down the policy allowing guns in parks. She called the rule, issued in the last days of the Bush administration, severely flawed and said officials had failed to evaluate its possible environmental impact, as required. She set a deadline of Monday for the Interior Department to indicate its likely response.

The rule, which took effect in January, allowed visitors to carry a loaded gun if they had a permit for a concealed weapon and the state where the park or refuge was located allowed concealed firearms. Guns in parks had been severely restricted.

A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday that the department was not completely discarding the Bush rule and that officials intended to complete an environmental impact statement on the possible effects of the rule, as well as a range of alternatives.