Summary thoughts:
*) Gun limitations are not just in the Sierras, either. For example, Pinnacles National Park says “The use or discharge of a firearm in Pinnacles National Park is prohibited.”
*) This is also not limited to California. For example, Grand Teton National Park says “Firearms may not be discharged in this national park (except during legal hunting seasons) and can not be used as a wildlife protection strategy. Bear spray and other safety precautions are the proven methods for preventing bear and other wildlife interactions.”
*) You said my statement was a lie — yes, I took offense. I may make a mistake, but I do not lie. In this case I was unaware of the 2010 happenings. Further investigation shows that, while I was technically incorrect, my comment is accurate for all practical purposes.
*) Your posting is even more foolish because it is only technically correct. It is apparently true that some people — those with a valid California concealed carry permit — can carry a concealed weapon in the national parks out here, but they cannot discharge their weapon. Now I ask you — just how valuable is it to carry a weapon that (a) must be concealed, making it at least a little less accessible and (b) you cannot legally discharge in any event?
In the Tetons you are not restricted to concealed carry, but still are not allowed to discharge your weapon other than for legal hunting. Note that they specifically call out that guns are not a legitimate wildlife defense strategy. They do allow bear spray, and say that it is a more effective defense. I presume the reason they allow bear spray, while the California national parks do not, is that some of the Teton bears are grizzly bears.
I suggest that, for all practical purposes, my original statement was correct — that for every national park I have checked (5 of them) one cannot legally use a firearm for bear protection. Can we please stop this nonsense that everyone needs to have a firearm for bear protection when it is not even a legal thing to do in so many places?
At least in the lower 48 the proper bear safety procedures are the ones others in this forum have discussed — keep a clean camp, do not cook near your tent (and preferably not in camp at all), store your food and smellables properly, best not to camp where bears are used to finding food, carry bear spray where it is legal (afaik it is always legal in grizzly country — dunno about the Appalachians, Minnesota, etc)
A firearm may be a good idea in parts of Alaska (I am not sure about that) and one is definitely recommended in polar bear country (e.g. a canoe trip to Hudson’s Bay.)
–MV
