EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers Call For War Department To Protect Second Amendment On Millions Of Acres

A group of House Republicans is calling on the Department of War to protect U.S. citizens’ Second Amendment rights on one of its agency’s federal lands.

Two dozen GOP lawmakers led by Republican Texas Rep. Pat Fallon penned a Tuesday letter to Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll asking him to direct the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) “to immediately finalize and implement” a rule change from President Donald Trump’s first administration. The updated guidance would allow Americans to carry firearms on the nearly 12 million acres of land the USACE manages, with respect to state laws.

“hile most federal agencies respect the lawful exercise of Second Amendment rights on their managed lands, it is a different story for USACE-managed lands,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. They noted that the Corps “is the only major federal land management agency that still maintains a general prohibition on the lawful carry of firearms.”

The House members described that in 2009, Congress passed bipartisan legislation repealing federal restrictions on carrying firearms in lands under the control of the National Park Service. However, the Obama administration refused to also apply these changes to USACE lands.

“Now, millions of public lands remain subject to outdated restrictions that other agencies abandoned long ago,” the representatives wrote.

The USACE currently manages more than 11.7 million acres of land nationwide — a total that encompasses 90,000 campsites, 400 lake and river projects and 4,000 miles of trails, according to the letter.