[pct-l] guns on the pct

[Tom Best <spot@onr.com>]

PoliteCat

A couple of thoughts on guns on the PCT:

A gun is only one layer of defense.  Your first and most important
protection is awareness of the situtation around you.  

In many cases a gun will not be a suitable or appropriate instrument to
protect against an attack.  For example, if someone is talking with you
and jumps at you without warning, a gun would be not be helpful unless
you already had it in your hand.  Additionally, if someone passing you
on a trail turns and attacks, a gun will not be much help.  In those
cases other self defense techniques will be much more useful.

Also consider whether you want to spend your entire hike worrying about
whether you can draw your gun fast enough every time you see someone on
the trail headed your way.

A physical confrontation is a very intense experience.  If you have a
gun but no other training in self defense, you may feel that it is your
only or best option.  A decision made under those circumstances might be
regreted later.  Put another way, if you have to decide whether it is
necessary to use a gun, it is helpful to have some experience with
confrontation and physical violence (even if it is in a training
environment) to give you some perspective.  Sometimes it is necessary to
use a gun, most times it is the wrong decision.

The bottom line is that a gun is only a partial answer and a gun is
definately not a good solution for everyone.

Enough about the problem.

I believe the world is safer today (or at least no more dangerous) than
it has been in the past.  However, it has never been a good idea to
travel alone.  (in backgammon, only the single pieces can be attacked) 
I think an answer may be for you to travel with people you feel
comfortable with.  There really is safety in numbers.

Keep in mind that you are usually better off picking your traveling
companions rather than letting them pick you.

This is the kind of topic that can cause a lot of stress.  I hope you
decide to go thru with your hike.

tom
Campo-May 1, 1997
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