Does anyone carry a gun on the trail?

“I don't know about CA, but in WY you sure can.

I saw a guy I know come into a C-store carrying a pistol on each hip. He was on his way to the shooting complex.

The same guy also told me that I wouldn't believe how many women in this samll town of Cody have concealed weapons permits...and they do know how to use them!!!”

“The only guns I need are my bad jokes.”

“I've seen six Coyotes on the trail.

No guns here.”

“I have seen Whitetail stags battling, Black Bear on multiple occasions some up close, eagles, red tail hawk, chipmunks, squirrel, wild turkey, snake,

no coyotes neither the 4 legged jobs, nor the people smugglers.

I think a fast pair of legs is a better option than a firearm in most backpacking situations. The only times I can see value are at the trailhead or if I have someone else to protect that perhaps cannot outrun a threat. I look on losing my pack and contents cheaper than a legal defense after shooting someone.”

“I haven't packed a gun yet. It is a lot of weight and I don't think the risks are high enough to warrant it. However, if I ever felt at risk, I would not rule it out.

In all my years of backpacking I have only seen one guy wearing his guns unconcealed.

They recently outlawed carring handguns in the San Gorgonio Wilderness, although you can have them in the surrounding National Forest (hunting OK - no target shooting any more due to fire danger).”

“By far, Phil, the odds are you'll accidently shoot either your partner or yourself by packing a gun.
Your greatest risks to life on the trail are, in approximate order:
Heart attack
drowning
hypothermia
dehydration
Head injury
Lightning
Moose attack
terrorist
getting hit by a meteorite
.
.
.
.
grizzly attack”

“You left out carbon monoxide poisoning.

Seriously, though. Besides the possibility of hostile wildlife encounters (in which I think my BRAIN already gives me an unfair advantage), my chief concern would be encounters with hostile or malicious humans. I hate to say it, but you never know when or where this may occur. In the woods, where you will likely have no one else around to help you, this can be a very discomforting thought. I have never owned a gun, but it is for this very reason that I have considered a small emergaency pistol.

And then I ponder my classic gun-totin thought:

"If I had been carrying a gun around al these years, the odds are I would have shot SOMEONE by now..."”

“I'd carry in backcountry Alaska.”

“No crazed grizzly or crazed rabbit has ever successfully attacked an M1A2.”

“I say bring it if it makes you feel better. Just be safe with it.”

“So far, the number of violent crimes in the back country I frequent is practically nil and the threat from black bears does not justify a gun for protection.

Regarding a gun accident, I am feel safe enough around guns to take appropriate safety measures. If someone brought a gun along on a trip involving children, then I would be very concerned and proactive regarding safety precautions.

Hiking in group eliminates many of the unsafe feelings people may have.

Note: a lot of this gun stuff is interesting when you put it in perspective. A friend of mine is from North Dakota. He remembers taking his 22 rifle to public school with him (during the fifties) so he could hunt on the way home. No one thought anything about it.”

“Today he'd be jumped by a SWAT team.”

“Yeah, it wasn't that long ago in Montana where kids would take their rifles to school to go hunting after class!”

“Does anybody know where I can pick up some 120 mm ammo cheap. I'm running low and Sportsman's Guide doesn't carry it.”

“They used to store some in plain sight next to an Interstate at the Arsenal here, but they moved all that stuff. Sorry.”

“"Yeah, it wasn't that long ago in Montana where kids would take their rifles to school to go hunting after class!"
aero
01:51:16 PM

Our local school district has a safety program that involves firearms starting in 2nd grade. At that level they are just taught to don't touch unless mom or dad are with you. The curriculum progresses up to high school where the standard hunter safety course and the NRA programs are electives. A group of parents is trying to make them required for graduation.”

“Good for Gordon's schools, where is that? I love it. Seems like matches to me. Whether or not you have any or want your kids to they need to know which end is which and to leave them the heck alone. They can learn handling properly when older.”