The full U.S. Senate will consider legislation backed by Idaho Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo that clears the way for firearms to be legally transported and carried across federally-owned lands.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on Thursday to advance the measure geared towards freeing gun owners from conflicting regulations regarding firearms in national parks and fish and wildlife refuges.

Last December, Sen. Crapo sent a letter to Interior Secretary and former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne requesting that the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service remove the firearms restrictions, and defer instead to state gun laws, which is currently the practice of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service.

US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments

In April, Kempthorne proposed regulations that would permit law-abiding gun owners to transport and carry firearms in national parks and fish and wildlife refuges in states that permit doing so on their analogous public lands. That was followed by a comment period that ended on July 30, and Interior officials expect final comments on the rule to put it into effect by Nov. 1.