Along the same lines, it is important to note that death (whether of park rangers or the general public) did not notably increase after this policy change, eith

Along the same lines, it is important to note that death (whether of park rangers or the general public) did not notably increase after this policy change, either, so it is not a particularly dangerous policy as you suggested. Unless you set up security checkpoints around the parks, how would banning guns in parks prevent people who intend to harm park rangers (which is a serious crime) from bringing in guns? I don't believe that a person who intends to commit murder will be deterred because committing murder requires them to break an additional weapons possession law that cannot be well-enforced given the nature of rural parks. As sneak said in another comment, "People who would shoot at park rangers would not be deterred by such a prohibition, so the change does not make them any less safe. It does, however, make normal park-goers a lot safer."