National Park Service to stop selling Confederate flags

America’s national parks are no longer selling Confederate battle flags in their bookstores and gift shops.

The National Park Service (NPS) announced on Thursday that the historic emblem will no longer be available as a memento for visitors to the parks system.

“We strive to tell the complete story of America,” said NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis in a statement. “All sales items are evaluated based on educational value and their connection to the park.

{mosads}“Any standalone depictions of Confederate flags have no place in park stores,” Jarvis added.

Jarvis said his agency’s decision is driven by last week’s mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

Alleged gunman Dylann Storm Roof took several photos where he posed with the flag before the shooting and reportedly had the battle flag on his car license plate.

“As that discussion spread across the country, one of our largest cooperating associations, Eastern National, began to voluntarily remove from the park stores that it manages any items that depict a Confederate flag as its primary feature,” Jarvis said.

“I’ve asked other cooperating associations, partners and concession providers to withdraw from sale items that solely depict a Confederate flag,” he added.

NPS said that depictions of the controversial symbol are permissible as sales items provided they are not physically detachable.

These include images of the flag in books, DVDs and other educational and interpretive media within a historical context, the agency added.

It also said that the divisive emblem would remain in books, exhibits, reenactments and similar educational ventures.

“All superintendents and program managers will personally evaluate which sales items fit this description, have educational value and are appropriate for the site,” Jarvis said of each park’s decision-making process.

Roof allegedly targeted Emanuel AME Church, a predominantly black congregation, and could face hate crime charges.

He is accused of uttering racial epithets before attacking and killing the nine victims last Wednesday evening.

Roof was arrested in Shelby, N.C., last Thursday morning after a 14-hour manhunt.

NPS noted in its statement on Thursday that Fort Sumter National Monument is the nearest national park to Charleston and Emanuel AME Church.