Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
You don’t see a difference between trained professionals responding to a known threat vs a bunch of weekend warriors practicing their quick draw every time they hear a rustle in the bushes?
Do you think arming humans in daily life is a good solution, too? If police officers carry guns it only makes sense that we all should.
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You’re missing the point. I see the difference, I just reject the idea that carrying a firearm for wildlife protection is not actually for wildlife protection, but rather some psychological hang-up. It is completely undeniable that people carry guns for wildlife protection. It’s quite literally one of the reasons you’re allowed to carry a gun. The government didn’t just make up that reason to appease people.
Why would I think arming humans in daily life is a good solution? I don’t think arming humans in the woods is a good solution either, I just think the line between where they can be armed and where they can’t be is arbitrary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
You're thinking about this backwards. The question should be "why the hell do we allow carrying firearms on the other side of the line". Probably because it makes hunting laws/enforcement easier, and because Mini-Texas syndrome.
Yeah no ####.
Joe Blow with his gun and bear spray that gets jumpy around wildlife is going to reach for his gun and blast the poor critter in the face first, because he doesn't know what he's doing.
Conservation officers are trained professionals, and have taken courses and training to know when to reach for the bear spray (which they also carry) or the gun. They are also the ones called in to deal with aggressive/problem animals, and face disproportionate encounters with problem animals compared to those of us out there in our full Patagonia kit. If everyone has to go through the same vetting and training as conservation officers before they can carry a gun, and are subject to the same loss of income for doing it wrong, ok, maybe.
Otherwise you're just saying this is what you want:
MOD EDIT: Removed image as it was causing malware flags in some browsers, please rehost images.
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Requiring a high level of training makes total sense. Having a gun is a big responsibility that people don’t take seriously enough (much more seriously here than in the US though, at least).
Even saying hey, we actually shouldn’t allow guns for wildlife protection at all… you know what? That makes sense, too. That’s a valid argument and one that has legs, and I think a lot of the arguments point towards that with or without intending to, but in the end they are allowed elsewhere so giving those kinds of reasons as to why they shouldn’t be allowed in Parks specifically seems dumb.
“They’re not as effective as bearspray” - OK, well they’re nearly as effective as bearspray so carry both seems twice as safe.
“These areas are for conservation” - Yet conservation officers kill more animals than anyone carrying for wildlife protection even does, by far (and kill the animals that attack people anyway) so that’s out the window.
“I’m less safe in the woods with other people carrying” - Maybe? But stats seem to indicate they pose less of a thread than animals, so….
“People don’t carry them for protection they just want a gun” - Except people very much do carry them for protection so why pretend?
I think there are valid arguments against guns in general, guns in the backcountry, etc, but when the question is “Why are they allowed in the backcountry and not in a National Park” almost nobody has come close to addressing that question. “Because guns are bad” might be true, but that is not a valid reason as to why they are allowed in one area and not the other. You know what I mean?
People should get out and go hunting sometime (in Canada, ideally, where it is less insane). Go with someone who knows what they’re doing. You get a different view of a gun owner that isn’t some “jumpy guy in patagonia”/“bandana wearing gun bro” stereotype. Would at least give you a sense of who is actually out there instead of some inflated fear.