ShadowAngel

I refuse to go hiking anywhere I can't carry. Between the four legged predators and the two legged ones, I think it's pretty stupid to leave my pistol at home and risk myself and my fiance doing so.

bcvojak

Wildlife is NOT my primary, or even secondary concern for wanting to carry in County/State/Federal parks.

We have a camper that we use just about every weekend from late Spring to early Autumn. We own some land that we camp on quite a bit. There is minimal to no cell phone capability there, and even if we got lucky and managed to connect to 911, the PD would be 10-15 minutes away even with lights and siren the whole way. So we never go camping without bringing some sort of firearm along.

If a bear ever became violent, I would reach for the bear spray before I'd grab the 3" Springfield .45 or the 2" Taurus .38! One might argue that a .45 could work against Black Bears, but against a Brown Bear or Grizz, you might as well just have a squirt gun. Bear spray is more effective, and everyone goes home alive, including the bear!

If you maintain your camp site properly, use bear boxes, don't store smelly food in the camper or leave it lying around, your odds of have to deal with a bear are almost zero.

A much higher threat are the group of drunk yahoos six camp sites away. Even worse are the two legged predator you don't see, until they attack. The killers or rapist. The crooks who are waiting for you to leave your camp site for the day so they can rob your camper. One of the reasons we purchased our own piece of land to camp on was that we were often concerned about the clientele we ran into at many of the State and County campgrounds. Now we're on a third acre, surround by other property owners, some who have vacation homes, and some who use their property for camping.

I would have no problem with having to show my CCW permit before entering a National Park, if it meant I could carry legally in the park.

On the flip side, if they catch some dumb guy using his firearm for illegal poaching, I have no problem with the Feds putting his sorry butt in a jail cell for a couple of years.

__________________
Bill Vojak
Pacific NW

Sig 210

"It's always been easiest to pass "feel good" legislation aimed at law abiding citizens than to address the real problem."

There is no legislation, feel good or otherwise, that prevents CCW in National Parks. It is an administrative prohibition put into effect by James Watt, Sec'y of the Interior under Ronald Reagan.

Like the prohibitions on import of guns put in effect by Bush I and Clinton, The current president just refuses to declare them null and void.

The link:

Senators Want Guns Allowed In National Parks - New Orleans News Story - WDSU New Orleans

"Forty-seven lawmakers have signed a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. They ask him to lift Reagan-era restrictions that bar carrying readily accessible firearms onto lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The senators said the regulations developed in the early 1980s, in their words, "infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms on or across these lands.""

rmxer85

I don't know about anyone else but I think that feel rather silly firing my little 9mm carry gun at a buffalo or elk charging me. I'd take my chances and run for it!!! so the "they'll shoot the critters" thing is a dull point for the most part.

and thats IF they charged meaning that somwhere >>I<<...me... the moron...screwed up somwhere!
just my thoughts?

__________________
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.

Sir Winston Churchill

ccw9mm

Generally speaking, it's the two-legged varieties that most concern me in the parks. As it should. Removal of such ridiculous prohibitions would be a step in the right direction.

__________________
Your best weapon is your brain. Don't leave home without it.
Thoughts: Justifiable self defense.
Explain: How does disarming victims reduce the number of victims?
Deal with evil through strength. Affirm the good in Man through trust.
NRA. GOA. OFF.

GBS

To see the opposing view see link below:

Now, be forewarned, this is an ANTI-gun page.
The article is the usual tripe and deserves to be skipped.
The comments (section) down below the article are rather humorous.
Now, one will need a flame-proof suit as it contains some stereotypes and more than a couple of exaggerations, but if it is taken as misguided humor, it is worth reading for the entertaiment value.



Guns and National Parks: The Perfect Combination

Sticks

You would be surprised of how many "stupid" people there are that may be pro gun, but not CC that may (and do) put themselves in harms way with wildlife.

City people think nature is one giant petting zoo. I lived in Estes Park for several years and every year during the tourist season, there was about one story a month in the local newspaper of some stupid mom or dad putting their little kid on the back of an elk for a picture, or encouraging them to go up an pet the animal. Thankfully, it was usually the parent if anyone that got mauled.

These are the people that will take the gun into the parks, stroll up to a moose thinking Bullwinkle, then start shooting at it when it decides that it has had enough.

__________________
Sticks
Curiosity was framed, poor judgment killed the cat
A Government is comprised of a body of people notably ungoverned
Three can keep a secret if two are dead

BlackPR

Wonkette is largely a humor site. They take potshots at everyone, although frequently from a decidedly liberal point of view. Anyone trying to get into a serious debate there is wasting their time.

__________________
The facts are indisputable. There is more data supporting the benefits of Conceal Carry than there is supporting global warming. If you choose ignorance, in light of all the evidence, in order to bolster your irrational fear of guns, you are a greater threat to society than any gun owner.

ccw9mm

No doubt the "malling" of city slickers is half the problem, bless their hearts. It's what keeps the economy ticking and their heads in the clouds. If only it could keep their voting boots off the backs of others, we'd be halfway there ...

No doubt the elk deem the maulings a legitimate self-defense tactic. As do I. It's a suitable response to threats cloaked in stupidity and ankle warmers.

__________________
Your best weapon is your brain. Don't leave home without it.
Thoughts: Justifiable self defense.
Explain: How does disarming victims reduce the number of victims?
Deal with evil through strength. Affirm the good in Man through trust.
NRA. GOA. OFF.

SleepingZ

Reading the "comments" it's scary that there are that many low IQ people in the world. One thinks we might shoot an animal, but he is condoning shooting the 47 Senators, now who's scary?

__________________
9 out of 10 engineers agree that 1 out of 10 engineers are idiots.