16 U.S.C. § 1a–7b — Protection of right of individuals to bear arms

(a) Congressional findings Congress lists several facts and beliefs behind this law: (1) The Second Amendment to the Constitution says the right to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed." (2) A federal rule — section 27.42 of title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations — generally bars people, except in special circumstances, from possessing, using, or transporting firearms on national wildlife refuges run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (3) That rule stops people who are otherwise following federal and state law from exercising their Second Amendment rights while at units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. (4) Because different units of the National Wildlife Refuge System had different rules about carrying and possessing firearms, law-abiding gun owners could get caught out while at those units. (5) The Bush administration issued new rules on Second Amendment rights at refuge units, effective January 9, 2009. But on March 19, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction affecting the implementation and enforcement of those new rules. On top of that, the new rules were under review by the Obama administration and might be changed. (6) Congress says it needs to weigh in on the new rules, so that unelected bureaucrats and judges cannot again override the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens on the 90,790,000 acres of land under the Fish and Wildlife Service's jurisdiction. (7) Federal law should make clear that an individual's Second Amendment rights at a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System should not be infringed. (b) Protection of right of individuals to bear arms in units of the National Wildlife Refuge System The Secretary cannot create or enforce any regulation that stops someone from possessing a firearm — including one that is assembled or ready to fire — in any unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. This protection applies only if both of these are true: (1) The individual is not otherwise barred by law from possessing that firearm. (2) Possessing the firearm complies with the law of the state where that unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System is located.