Senate bill 22 would have greatly expanded the amount of land controlled by the National Park Service (NPS)—land that is currently subject to a gun ban. S. 22 was a compilation of over 150 separate pieces of legislation that never passed out of Congress on their own merits. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rolled all of the bills into one so-called "Coburn Omnibus bill" and forced it through the Senate last January on a vote of 73-21. As the bill went through the House, the Democrat leadership took procedural steps to ensure that the measure could not be amended or altered in any way. If it passed the House, it would have gone straight to President Obama’s desk, to be signed into law. A two-thirds vote was required, which it failed to achieve by two votes on March 11, 2009. There is a Motion to Reconsider, which means the bill has only been stopped temporarily.

If it had passed the bill would have:

1. Authorized the federal government to buy private land adjacent to national parks and trails. Such land would be controlled by the NPS, and thus be subject to the gun ban.

2. Federalized the Washington-Rochambeau Route, a 650 mile trail that stretches from Rhode Island to Virginia and includes sections of major thoroughfares such as Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1 and passes through cities like Boston and Philadelphia. The entire trail would fall under the NPS and the gun ban.

3. Commissioned the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) to place millions of acres of federal land managed by several agencies placed under its regulatory control. The NLCS was created during the Clinton administration and run administratively since then. S. 22 would codify the system, raising concerns for hunters and sportsmen. Much of this land is consolidated from the BLM and the Forest Service, which have always allowed hunting and recreational shooting. It is unclear what rules will be promulgated by the new agency and if gun owners’ rights would be protected.

4. Stripped out small concessions won by pro-gunners in the House last year that would allow state and local law to govern firearms possession and hunting on certain lands.

5. Allowed NO amendments. Pro-gun members wanting to offer an amendment to fully repeal the NPS gun ban would be prevented from doing so by the anti-gun leadership.