The debate moves to Washington State:
George Coulbourn is an NRA member too but works as a volunteer backcountry ranger at Mount Rainier National Park. He sees no benefit to allowing people to carry loaded weapons in the park. Kris Paynter is the mother of two young girls and the wife of a police detective. She said allowing guns at Mount Rainier would ruin the sense of sanctuary the park now offers.
Yeah, that’s a rational reason for forcing me to run the risk of ending up like this woman.  I mean, heaven forbid we ruin anyone’s sense of sanctuary.
“If you’re not comfortable visiting the park because of animals, you don’t belong there,†Coulbourn said. “I have seen countless bears in the backcountry of Mount Rainier. But every single one of them has ignored me or run away.â€
He added that the handgun a park visitor would likely carry into the park would not have enough stopping power to bring down a bear or cougar.
So basically he’s saying I have to risk being lunch if I want to visit the park? What he says about stopping power is definitely true, but I’d take my .44 Magnum over my bare fists, or swiss army knife. I wonder how long it took the News Tribune to track down all these gun owners who are opposed to removing the restrictions in National Parks.
The bears might run away or ignore him, but what about the feral humans?
Cougars aren’t that hard to kill, and would run from the sound of a firearm. Same goes for black bears.
Mount Rainier has brown bears, but I’d be more worried about two-legged feral hippie-critters and dope growers.
Trust me, guys like that Ranger are in the minority out here. And while my .45 might not stop a bear, it might scare it and it will do a hell of a lot more damage than my knife will.
Oh, and just because bears ignore him doesn’t mean they ignore everyone. They bears tend to avoid the human hiking trails, but there is no rule saying you have to stay on the trails, and if I decide to go cross country, I run the risk of finding a bear cub and momma, or finding a bear protecting food, or a rabid bear, or just one that is pissed off at me.
Besides, the Rangers carry guns, so if it is so safe, what can’t I carry mine?
I note the article no longer says “She said allowing guns at Mount Rainier would ruin the sense of sanctuary the park now offers.” I suspect they wanted to avoid the comments pointing out that any such “sense of sanctuary” is a dangerously false one…