U.S. allows guns in national parks

A closer look
The rule change: Starting Friday, holders of concealed-handgun permits may carry concealed weapons in sites administered by the National Park Service. The Interior Department overturned a rule restricting loaded guns in most national parks, making park gun laws coincide with state gun laws. Those with concealed-handgun permits will no longer have to unload and dismantle their guns when they visit a national park. The rule doesn’t change anything in states where concealed handguns are not allowed — Illinois and Wisconsin — and still doesn’t allow long guns into national parks.

While visitors with concealed-handgun permits can have loaded weapons in the parks, they cannot take them into federal facilities, including visitor centers.