Hoover Dam

Hi, I will be in Las Vegas later this month, and one of the things I want to do is go check out the dam itself (the touristy thing.) My question is what do I need to do with my firearm to actually be able to do the tour of hoover dam? I've done a search and all I've found is that transport over the dam is fine as long as I am not stopping. However, would my firearm locked in my gun vault with the magazine separate from it be an acceptable method of storage while there? I do not like the idea of being disarmed from the strip to the dam and back to my hotel. Any advice would be helpful.
thanks

I can't help on your question. My .02
If you have never been in a helicopter you have to take the heli tour. It's pricey. Like 60 bucks a person. It is well worth the money.
I had never been up in the air in anything. I loved it.
Have fun.

The dam is a federal facility where there are federal employees working. This probably includes the parking garage. To be safe, I would have the weapon stored out of sight before getting there. But there are plenty of opportunities to do so, the last parking lot on the way there is the Chevron station across the highway from the Hacienda Hotel just before the new exit to the dam itself. No need to be disarmed in the car until then.

There is no such thing as "transport over the dam" anymore. The new bridge did away with the need for that exception.

Yes, it did away for the need for the exception, but is the exception still on the books?

vegaspassat said:

Yes, it did away for the need for the exception, but is the exception still on the books?

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Even if it is still on the books, "transport over the dam" is not "stopping on the dam for sightseeing". It would be like driving through New York City under the safe passage law. Driving through is not the same as stopping to see the sights.

Hoover Dam is under the department of interior/ bureau of reclamation. However, Hoover Dam makes up Lake Mead a National park and open carry is allowed accepted in building with federal employees. Department of interior appears to have laws of their own. I believe it was last year a poster was carrying on the new bridge walk and had a run in with the Dam Police. My vague memory I believe he was told he could have been arrested. I am with MAC702. Lock it up in the vehicle while doing the sightseeing on the dam. This does not answer the legal question. I did a little research on the department of interior/ bureau of reclamation guns on Hoover Dam did not see anything I could say there the law is. May be with more detail and time searching one could find an answer.
Copied from the Hoover Dam police web. ” Weapons, narcotics, alcoholic beverages, and explosives (including fireworks) are prohibited.
• “If you have questions about these guidelines, please ask a Hoover Dam tour guide or police officer for additional information, or call the Hoover Dam Police Department administrative office at (702) 494-2411.”

I remember the walkway being posted on bronze signs as firearms being prohibited then after the credit card bill made carry in compliance with state law legal they removed the firearm prohibition on the bronze signs. I was approached by an officer earlier this year about it and was given a small booklet if laws and regs for the "interior". Don't have access to it right now but I'll get the reg number later and update this post.
They do claim that as "interior and reclamation" that the "park" carry law does not effect them.


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I was there last year. There is a heavy and active authoritarian presence. I was going to take the dam tour but posted signs said firearms were prohibited, persons were subject to search, and magnetometers were in use. I just walked the dam concealed. If you choose to O.C., count on being accosted or seized by a person acting under color of law.

What is a 9mm going to do to the dam? Its retarded.

JoeSparky said:

...They do claim that as "interior and reclamation" that the "park" carry law does not effect them...

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And that would be correct. Hoover Dam is administered very separately from the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It has its own DOI federal police force, not park rangers.

Per 43 CFR part 423.30 (a) You may possess firearms, ammunition, ... Stowed, transported, and/or carried in compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local law, with the following exceptions:
(1) You must not have a weapon in your possession when at or in a Reclamation facility.

Snipping the rest.


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Thanks all

Thanks to all who replied, I will definitely be locking the firearm in my gunvault prior to entering the federal facility.

"dam it" i wanted to take friends out to see hoover, but we don't plan on doing the tour. The whole area though, including that new bridge if off limits to weapons? =\

Here is the link to the thread started after my encounter: http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...ng-the-hoover-Dam-bypass-bridge-memorial-park

DON`T TREAD ON ME said:

Here is the link to the thread started after my encounter: http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...ng-the-hoover-Dam-bypass-bridge-memorial-park

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Possession = readily available ... trunk in locked case should do fine ... IMO

Lostlittlerobot said:

"dam it" i wanted to take friends out to see hoover, but we don't plan on doing the tour. The whole area though, including that new bridge if off limits to weapons? =\

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It is NOT if you utilize the federal definition of "facility" however reclamation claims that the land overseen by them is the facility, that is the rub. I think the fight is one we could win... but it has not risen to the top of the list.