Re: riding and weapons

[Chris Paus <paus@micoks.net>]

The only shooting I want to do in the wilderness is with my camera...

chris paus & star

P.S. I lived in Wisconsin for 15 years with a black bear den on my
property. The one time I had a gun and was scared, I was too damn cold to
pull the trigger! It was about -20 in November!

At 05:32 PM 3/2/98 -0800, Judy A. Worley wrote:
>I'm with you, Ann. I'm a lady packer, traveling by myself in the wilds of
>the Cascade Range, the only folks I've met are friendly, or too tired Crest
>Trail users; anybody up to no good would have to go a long ways out of their
>way, and be in pretty good shape to be up there. I carry a side knife to cut
>in a hurry.  I think people watch too much TV and/or there is a public
>hysteria because of it.
>     I think I can get you a used Wintec aussie as a pretty good price.
>Judy-----Original Message-----
>From: Ann Hatfield <keithr@nocdc.bc.ca>
>To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
>Date: Sunday, March 01, 1998 9:21 PM
>Subject: riding and weapons
>
>
>>I'm absolutley astonished at how many women wrote to say they carry
>>handguns not to mention mace, knives, pepper spray, etc. I assume all of
>>them were from the U.S. because in Canada it is VERY difficult to get
>>permission to carry a handgun of any kind and now one has to go through a
>>training program, a background check and certification to be able to carry
>>a rifle.
>>
>>The weapon carrying literally scares me.  I live in what most Americans
>>would classify as wilderness.  We have a momma bear and her cubs on the
>>place every single summer and autumn.  In winter we have cougar tracks on
>>the driveway.  Coyotes call many nights when I'm out feeding the night
>>horse feed and checking on foals.  I lived 6 years in Jasper National
>>Park-as wild as you can get-lots of bears and cats.  Wolves called at the
>>literal edge of town.  Tourists wandered about everywhere and few ever got
>>hurt by animals. You aren't allowed to carry guns, in any National Park,
>>unless you are a Park Warden.  I rode on the edge of the Park where the
>>Wilmore Wilderness borders it with a friend who is a hunter as well as an
>>avid rider/explorer of the farthest reachest into which he can get,  and he
>>seldom caries a gun.  When he does it is a rifle so a large animal can be
>>stopped at a distance.  Yes, I understand some pistols pack quite a punch
>>and can stop a bear but I don't think they are the 'game' gun of choice-ask
>>ranchers and hunters what they carry. Pistols are designed to kill humans.
>>
>> When we were in an area that we heard had a problem bear we rode
>>carefully-out!  I was the third woman in B.C. to be hired as a forest fire
>>lookout.  I had drunks come up to my look out, which was fairly accessible
>>to the public, on  a couple of occassions.  "Whassh a pretty girl like you
>>doing all alone up here?"  "I'm not all alone, I had 92 visitors today.
>>Are you fellows going to sign the guest book, too?  Feel free to enjoy the
>>view and the trail down is that way and the cliffs are right ahead of you."
>> Most drunks I've dealt with in Canada weren't dangerous,  just drunk.
>>
>>Does the States really have that much more human trouble than Canada that
>>ordinary people must really pack all this firepower?  Makes me nervous
>>about coming down for rides.
>>
>>Am I totally naive, or protected here in my Canadian world;  is there so
>>much violence around you everyday that you must go armed?  I wonder if
>>Canadians, South Africans, Aussies, Europeans carry the arsenal the
>>Americans feel comfortable with/reassured by.  I ride with no weapon-ever.
>>I ride alone in very rough country. I camp with women friends every year
>>and not one of us carries anything more deadly than a cel phone and a
>>hatchet to make kindling and it only goes with us if we think we may have
>>to clear trail.  Even then it's likely to be left in camp and a folding saw
>>carried.
>>
>>I work with poor, stressed, difficult people.  No staff on the three floors
>>carries a gun.  We have panic buttons that connect to the Royal Canadian
>>Mounted Police office in town.  Only time they have been called is when the
>>alarum installers were putting in the buttons.  "Oops, sorry officer.  No,
>>he's o.k., he's installing it!"
>>
>>Truly scares the tar out of me to think that you ordinary folk feel
>>obligated to carry all this stuff.
>>
>>Ann
>>
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