{ "id": "R42602", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42602", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 439095, "date": "2015-03-16", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:22:17.001476", "title": "Firearms at Army Corps Water Resource Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues in the 113th Congress", "summary": "As part of its civil works mission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages water resource projects. Areas behind and below Corps dams and around Corps locks, levees, and waterways are popular recreation sites, attracting 370 million visits annually. Corps projects are some of the most densely used federal recreation sites. Title 36, Section 327, of the Code of Federal Regulations sets out the regulations for public use of Corps projects. Section 327.13 generally prohibits possession of loaded firearms by private (i.e., non-law enforcement) individuals at Corps-administered projects unless the firearms are being used for hunting at designated areas (with devices required to be unloaded while transported to and from the hunting areas) or for shooting at authorized shooting ranges. The regulation applies at projects regardless of their location in states allowing open or concealed carry of loaded firearms. \nCorps lands with public access are open for hunting unless designated as closed for hunting (36 C.F.R. \u00a7327.8). Roughly half (4.4 million acres) of Corps fee-owned land is closed to hunting but open to the public; on these lands, Corps regulations allow unloaded firearms and prohibit loaded firearms. The other half of Corps fee-owned land is open to hunting or shooting in designated shooting areas; Corps regulations allow loaded firearms for hunting in areas open to hunting or shooting in designated shooting areas. \nLegislation proposed in the 113th Congress (e.g., H.R. 2046, the Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act; Section 103 of S. 1335, the Sportsmen\u2019s Act) would have banned the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing regulations that prohibit individuals from possessing firearms, including assembled or functional firearms, at Corps projects. The proposed language would have required firearms possession to comply with state law. Supporters saw the proposed legislation as addressing a patchwork of regulations restricting firearms on federal lands, providing consistency for open and concealed firearms possession within a state, and facilitating recreational shooting and self-defense. They argued that enactment would result in Corps policies consistent with legislation that made it legal for individuals to possess firearms at National Park Service (NPS) and National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) units of the Department of the Interior (DOI). Other stakeholders were concerned that the proposed legislation could have produced unintended safety and security issues. No armed federal law enforcement officers are commissioned for public safety and security purposes at Corps projects. Corps rangers issue citations for regulatory violations and are not allowed to carry firearms. Most law enforcement at Corps projects is provided by local and state personnel.\nThe issue for the 113th Congress was not only whether to alter the Corps firearms regulations but also how to maintain public safety and infrastructure security at Corps projects. The proposed language would have eliminated the Secretary of the Army\u2019s ability to enforce or promulgate regulations on firearms restrictions in areas of Corps projects that are open to the public if possession were in compliance with state law. However, individuals still would have had to comply with Title 18, Section 930, of the United States Code, which restricts possession of firearms at a \u201cfederal facility,\u201d and the agency still would have been able to restrict public access to project areas under its authority in Title 16, Section 460d, of the United States Code. Therefore, which Corps facilities qualify as a \u201cfederal facility\u201d under Title 18, Section 930, of the United States Code becomes a topic of interest. Under the proposed legislation, consistent with state law and firearms restrictions in Title 18, Section 930, of the United States Code, loaded firearms would have been allowed at all Corps project areas open to the public.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42602", "sha1": "b333d0689814dce831738f8bb052bb32764f7022", "filename": "files/20150316_R42602_b333d0689814dce831738f8bb052bb32764f7022.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42602", "sha1": "07eac5cf253b7d5d5975ac325a9b5226dc769f66", "filename": "files/20150316_R42602_07eac5cf253b7d5d5975ac325a9b5226dc769f66.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4392, "name": "Regulation of Firearms" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503695/", "id": "R42602_2015Jan27", "date": "2015-01-27", "retrieved": "2015-04-30T17:37:21", "title": "Firearms at Army Corps Water Resource Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues for Congress", "summary": "This report discusses issues for Congress regarding public safety and infrastructure security at water resource projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Proposed legislation would bar the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing regulations that prohibit individuals from possessing firearms (including assembled or functional firearms) at Corps projects and instead require that firearms possession comply with state law.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150127_R42602_e7980f59b81e3cded0c75ac186b2ecdf3ace0666.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150127_R42602_e7980f59b81e3cded0c75ac186b2ecdf3ace0666.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Firearms control", "name": "Firearms control" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Water resources", "name": "Water resources" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Firearms", "name": "Firearms" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc98027/", "id": "R42602_2012Jul12", "date": "2012-07-12", "retrieved": "2012-08-21T08:46:06", "title": "Firearms at Army Corps Water Resources Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues for Congress", "summary": "This rport discusses issues for Congress regarding public safety and infrastructure security at water resource projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Proposed legislation would bar the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing regulations that prohibit individuals from possessing firearms (including assembled or functional firearms) at Corps projects and instead require that firearms possession comply with state law.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120712_R42602_3eba7b18bdf5dfe6d73dad5ae50d8a34738c041b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120712_R42602_3eba7b18bdf5dfe6d73dad5ae50d8a34738c041b.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Firearms control", "name": "Firearms control" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Water resources", "name": "Water resources" } ] } ], "topics": [] }