A letter writer in the April 20 newspaper opined that there isn’t a need for guns in national parks, and I offer the following response: I personally know a mountain biker who started packing heat after a close encounter with a cougar, and 10 years of confirmed cougar attacks are detailed on this Web page: http://www.cougarinfo.org/attacks3.htm.
Far from being a pristine and safe place, the wilderness is rife with danger from both four-legged and two-legged predators. The human variety uses the seclusion to commit crimes, and to conceal (bury) others — and they will not obey those “no guns” signs, because after all, they are criminals.
One needs to carry a gun for self-defense because a policeman is too heavy.
David Luchin, Margate
[via the Florida Sun Sentinel]
