Is it worth it to illegally carry a gun on a hike?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I live in California and as far as I know, if you are in a national forest, or on BLM land, you can open carry a loaded handgun for personal protection, but it's been years since I've looked into it, so maybe that has changed. Something for you to research.
 
SubaruSTi said:
murder is illegal
Click to expand...

The definition of murder is:
A crime of unlawfully killing a person esp. with malice aforethought.


Criminals murder.
Victims self defend and if it causes death, it's not murder.
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
SubaruSTi-what is th epoint of your posts? THe OP is not paranoid, he is attempting to take measures to protect his family, and you other post is so flawed...


WildeWinds- Please, PLEASE! Do not carry concealed illegally! Check the local laws and see if you can carry openly, or go with a small game permit and carry .22 or .410 shotgun. If neither of those are an option I'd look into the Taser:http://www.taser.com/products/consumers/Pages/C2.aspx
and a Stout walking stick:http://kingfisherwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=kf&Product_Code=041&Category_Code=HS
and a tertiary measure could be the bear spray.

Again, PLEASE DO NOT illegally carry
Click to expand...

I have a kingfisher stick and it's great for hiking. It is also a great defense tool but it's no match for a gun. Still helps ease the mind should you run accross some with bad intentions or wild dogs or even a black bear. I cracked a dog that was harrassing me accross the nose with it and it ran away real fast. The owner wasn't too happy with me and I felt bad but he was unleashed and no where near his master and he was a pitbull.
 
I live in California too.

In California, it is legal to open carry in most National Forest and BLM lands, but you should check with the local ranger station to be sure. Some BLM lands are jointly operated with a local agency and on those lands open carry might be banned.

I also have young children that I take hiking. My rule of thumb is, if I think I might need a pistol there, I don't take my kids there. Why put them in needless danger, even if I can be armed?

That said, I prefer to take my kids hiking outside of California where I can (and do) carry a concealed weapon when hiking. I have a Utah CCW and it allows me to carry concealed in every (?) western state except California and Oregon. So I take my kids hiking in the really cool places when we're out of the state on vacation, and we stick to local, fairly well-populated regional parks when we're close to home. I can now even carry in most national parks and monuments legally once I'm outside of California. Of course, the Obama administration might screw that up, but for the moment anyone with a valid CCW for the state in which the national park or monument exists may legally carry in that park.

+1 to the hiking staff.

+1000 to CalGuns. The fight to restore our right to arms has just begun. If you're in California and care about this issue, CalGuns is a great place to go to learn about what's going on and how to become involved.

[/soapbox]
 
bulgron said:
My rule of thumb is, if I think I might need a pistol there, I don't take my kids there.
Click to expand...

That's a good point as well. Yeah, yeah "you never know", "I read on the internet about this one guy who got attacked in the woods" etc... but there's a reason we have high-crime areas... because that's where the crime is! So don't hike there. Not sayin' violence is impossible, just unlikely. PLEASE don't post "yeah, but there's meth labs in my area." For cripes sake, if you think/know there's meth labs, call the sheriff, don't go camping there :rolleyes:

Do whatever you feel is right, but cover your butt legally if you can. "Judged by 12/carried by 6", what a crock of macho bull-oney, who's gonna raise your kid while you're in the joint? How many folks who trot out that old line have actually spent a night in jail much less 5 or 10 years? Or killed a person :eek: I've heard it's not too cool.
 
Last edited:
hannibal lecter spyderco said:
I live in california as well, the problem with it is the moment you are on public lands the those rangers have a lot more leeway than regular law enforcement. Unless you look like a bible salesman and you don't plan to do anything that even resembles breaking any public land rules, I wouldn't even bother. Remember carrying a gun is a felony and that can royally screw up your life for good.
Click to expand...
Not for the 1st offense
I believe it is a misdemeanor or an infraction at worst

(a) A person is guilty of carrying a concealed firearm when
he or she does any of the following:
(1) Carries concealed within any vehicle which is under his or her
control or direction any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person.
(2) Carries concealed upon his or her person any pistol, revolver,
or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(3) Causes to be carried concealed within any vehicle in which he
or she is an occupant any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person.

(b) Carrying a concealed firearm in violation of this section is
punishable, as follows:
(1) Where the person previously has been convicted of any felony,
or of any crime made punishable by this chapter, as a felony.
(2) Where the firearm is stolen and the person knew or had
reasonable cause to believe that it was stolen, as a felony.
(3) Where the person is an active participant in a criminal street
gang, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 186.22, under the
Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (Chapter 11
(commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1), as a felony.
Click to expand...
 
C Bryant said:
Personally no, I do know people who have had to draw a firearm to deter individuals out in the wilds. Deep in the woods, this is not a common occurrence but in the outskirts of populated areas such as foothills and the local deserts out here coming across a few less than gracious individuals is not uncommon at all. (I'm obviously speaking for the area I live in) One of my best friends flipped his truck out in what most people would consider nowhere in the desert, not too far from a populated area, but not close either. In less than 30 minutes a group of armed individuals came by in truck and stripped everything of value from my buddies truck, cd player, tools, ham radio, antennas, and the like. Luckily my buddy had walked away from the truck and up to a road pretty much out of sight of them. I understand the concern of carrying a firearm. I have come across a group of 7 or 8 gang members out tagging in a canyon a good mile or more from any road and there would have been nothing I could have done to defend my self against that many individuals had I happened upon them doing something worse, or if they just felt like harassing me. I don't mean to make it sound like you had better beware on your next hike, I'm just saying those individuals are out there, something to keep in the back of your mind. Don't let it stop you from enjoying the outdoors. Your concern is not unjustified and certainly is not being paranoid as others seem to think, it is about being prepared. Unfortunately for us here in California, especially Southern California, it can be difficult to do so.
Click to expand...

The buggers who maraud should be drafted and sent overseas; it would prevent honest moms and dads from losing sons and daughters.
 
I have concealed carry permit but if I didn't , I wouldn't take a chance on getting busted unless it was life or death.
 
SubaruSTi said:
your paranoid.
Click to expand...

You see everyone? I told you, every time some nitwit wants to talk about guns in a negative manner, they pull out the liberal's copy of the shrink's DSM and start talking about paranoia.

Your more likely to kill yourself or your child with the firearm than a "bad guy".
Click to expand...

Really, does that mean you are more likely to kill yourself and your child with a knife than whittling on a stick? If you carry matches or some other firestarting device, are you more likely to become an arsonist? Matches do cause arson, don't you know.

I know, you believe in magic, don't you? You believe there is something magical about the gun that the knife and club do not possess! You also probably believe in the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny as well.

You're incredibly stupid statement stems from a flawed study that Johns Hopkins did quite a few years ago now and it has been discredited and the "study" was on guns in the home. The only problem is, they considered crackhouses and other buildings of ill repute that could be considered a "home" in the study and that's how they used statistics to arrive at their lie that a gun in the home is more likely to be used on someone living in the home than on some attacker.

I don't live in a crackhouse. Any time a liberal cites this B.S., you need to tell them that. "I'm sorry, that study also included drug dens and I don't happen to live in one of them, thanks."

SubaruSTi said:
murder is illegal
Click to expand...

No shit, Sherlock, ya think? Tell us, Einstein, who was talking about murder in this thread? If you don't know the difference between justifiable homicide and murder, maybe you should grow up, read a few books or perhaps sentence yourself to some other forum where people will nurture your particular brand of dementia.
 
udtjim said:
I have concealed carry permit but if I didn't , I wouldn't take a chance on getting busted unless it was life or death.
Click to expand...

Reasonable, and well-said.

Of course, we never know if it's going to be life-or-death until it happens... but prudence can keep us out of MOST life-or-death situations. If it does come to that, gawd forbid, most life-threatening situations happen pretty quickly, at very close range (or so I'm told)... I have no idea how many people who CLAIM they can clear the holster and drop two slugs in the kill-zone of a cardboard cutout can actually do it, but it's a safe bet that most of us would either be scared spitless or operating on adrenaline-fueled auto-pilot. I think this is why we sometimes hear about LEOs pumping 20 or 30 rounds AT a suspect, and often hit him only a few times.

I believe in the Bill of Rights, let's clear that up right now.
 
To think you need someones permission to protect yourself is just scary. Most restrictive gun carry laws are passed on the QT because the truth is that they crap on the constitution and if you put their business on the street and ask why protecting your self is so restrictive and is it illegal to protect self and family.
Not one of these anal retentive jerks would openly say you can't protect yourself on a public venue .
The truth is even if you are 100% legal and defend your self (especially with a firearm) you are going to have a legal battle trying to show you had no recourse.
 
For years, a few decades actually, the NRA's magazine, "The American Rifleman" has had a one to two page column called "The Armed Citizen." In that one to two page column, it varied from month to month, you would hear about grannies popping one or two burglars with a total POS old revolver or some small mousegun both of which would get ZERO RESPECT on some forum like Glock Forums or AR15.com. They do it and I'm betting they're not pissbagging about having survived and having to read Col. Grossman's writings to feel better about themselves.

They're not Gunsite or Thunder Ranch or Front Site graduates, they're just regular people. That is not to say you shouldn't avail yourself of better firearms and some training, it is to say that sometimes you can fill your head with all sorts of bullshit about how hard it will be if you don't give some school or instructor thousands of dollars to teach you how to do it.
 
SubaruSTi said:
your paranoid. Your more likely to kill yourself or your child with the firearm than a "bad guy".
Click to expand...

You are sadly mistaken. You have been brainwashed by the IL elite into going along with only them having guns and you being left a potential victim. Again, where are your stats to back this up? I'll tell you, they don't exist.
 
What county do you live in???

You CAN get a concealed carry permit in California, but you have to give a good cause statement in your application, then it's up to the Sheriff to decide if it is a good enough cause. If you live in a bay area county, forget about it, but there are actually quite a few rural county sheriffs that give out permits on a regular basis.

Otherwise, stick to the trails, or move...


Do NOT use bear spray, you could be sued for using that on someone. Get a spray that was intended for humans. I know it seems stupid, but there was a big discussion on one of the California gun forums about this, and several of the lawyer members adamantly suggested not using bear spray unless it is on bears.
 
I'm curious about one thing where you guys live (where its illegal to carry a firearm while hiking).

Do they search you and your pack when you go hiking, before , during or after a hike?

just wondering why one could'nt just carry a firearm discretely and have it......
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top