New House Bill: Carry on Federal Lands — Including the Visitor Center

On July 16, 2026, Reps. Rudy Yakym (R-IN-02) and Pat Fallon (R-TX-04) introduced H.R. 9719, the Federal Lands Lawful Carry Act. The bill would clarify that law-abiding Americans can carry firearms on federal land and in federal facilities when they are also in compliance with state law.

For years, visitors to federally managed areas — including National Parks — have been forced into a trap: outdoor carry may be lawful, but entering a visitor center, ranger station, or even a restroom can flip the switch into prohibited territory. That patchwork turns responsible carriers into accidental criminals and forces park staff into gun-policing instead of land management.

H.R. 9719 targets that confusion across the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Forest System, NOAA, National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, Tennessee Valley Authority, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The legislation would bar those agencies from arbitrarily banning firearm possession on land and in facilities open to the public.

NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford backed the measure as a fix for “the confusion surrounding the patchwork of where Americans can exercise their Right to Keep and Bear Arms on federally managed land.” Yakym framed it as closing a loophole that criminalizes Hoosiers who lawfully carry the moment they enter a federal park building. Fallon tied the bill to prior outreach to Army Secretary Driscoll on Army Corps lands and said Congress must protect carry on forests, parks, and USACE property.

This is not a hunting-only play. It is a self-defense and due-process play: if the public is allowed on the land, lawful carriers should not lose their rights at the bathroom door.

NRA says it will keep pushing the bill as it moves. For now, the fight is simple — introduce, cosponsor, and force a vote that treats federal public lands like the public space they are.