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If you turn on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News, you will probably find one of their talking heads ranting about gun laws from both sides since the issue produces sharp emotions. Since 2008, courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, have reduced many prohibitions on gun possession. The overhaul started when the Supreme Court decided District of Columbia v. Heller. In this case, the court held for the first time that each person has the right to keep a handgun in his or her house for self-defense. This overturned a long line of cases holding the Second Amendment to provide rights to militias, and not individuals. In 2010 the Supreme Court continued its expansion of gun rights in McDonald v. City of Chicago, which, in invalidating Chicago’s handgun ban, held that states and local governments could not prohibit a citizen from possessing a handgun in his or her home.
Decisions by other courts have further broadened gun rights. United States v. Chester, United States v. Reese, and United States v. Marzzarella held that in most cases governments are forbidden from outright restrictions on carrying guns. In Moore v. Madigan, the court found Illinois’s law prohibiting concealed carry to violate the Second Amendment. The court ordered Illinois to rewrite its law to allow concealed carry, and by the end of 2013, every state allowed some form of concealed or open carry. The effect on gun ownership has been profound. Since 2012, four million more background checks for firearms were conducted than in 2008, a 25-percent increase. As the number of gun owners increases, people are bringing guns everywhere, including parks. This has prompted many local officials to ask whether this is legal.
A Stately Issue
The answer depends on the state. Gun laws vary by state, with some, like California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Massachusetts, strictly regulating guns, and others, like Utah, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, imposing few regulations. A few states, like Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, give the local government broad authority to regulate guns, including whether to allow them into parks. Many local governments, most notably New York City, have responded by outlawing firearms entirely in public parks. Other cities, like Boston, have only allowed people with licenses granted by the police to bring guns into parks. Cities in California and Nebraska do not have the same broad authority to regulate guns, but may outlaw them in public parks. In Maryland, local governments may outlaw guns within 100 yards of a public park, although they cannot prohibit the teaching of firearm safety in a park. In Texas, municipalities may not regulate firearms in their parks, but counties may regulate them in county parks. Interestingly, Philadelphia banned handguns in public parks even though local governments are forbidden from doing so in Pennsylvania.