[Jeff Higgins]

What a horrible, horrible tragedy. A family decimated. A mother and father who have lost a son, a young man who has lost his brother. My prayers go out to this poor family. Such a random incident. All in the blink of an eye. This hits very close to home, as I have two sons, three years apart. This could just as easily been them.

Yes, there are those of us who will inevitably ponder how differently this might of played out had these young men been armed. In my family's case, those two brothers absolutely would have been armed (yes, the 18 year old can carry when "in the company of an adult" (his older brother) or even when just in the wilderness). I have spent a lifetime wandering the wilderness, and I would never even consider doing so unarmed. We feel as though that is as necessary as the boots on our feet, the water in our canteens, the compasses around our necks...

It's just another necessary tool should worse come to worse, and not just as a means of self defense. We can feed ourselves if lost for an extended period, we can signal if we feel we are lost and someone might be looking by now. Or we can defend ourselves.

In my wider circle of hunting, backpacking, and just general wilderness bumming friends and acquaintances, there are plenty of stories of folks who have successfully defended themselves or their companions. Thank God I have never had to (although I did get knocked to the ground by a black bear one time). And yes, maybe it's only a chance, but it is a chance. I'll take that over just standing there blowing on a whistle or something.

Plenty of folks think that's all just he-man ego grandstanding nonsense, which is fine. They likely have little if any real wilderness experience beyond popular weekend hiking trails (if even that). They are free to make their own choices, as am I mine. Choices can and do have consequences sometimes though, don't they? As long as one is informed, and fully understands all of that, I'm fine with everyone making their own. But, boy, I'm here to tell you, a gun on the hip out in the wilderness is absolutely no burden whatsoever. There is no downside that I can see. And, well, in the exceedingly rare instance when we might really need one, nothing else is going to do.