The L.A. Times has an editorial advocating carrying guns into the wilderness to protect against mountain lion attacks: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-francis19jan19,1,1094884.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

(you can use laexaminer/laexaminer as the name/password)

This is in response to a recent killing by a mountain lion in south Orange County: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040108-2138-ca-mountainlionattack.html

Rather than degenerating into a guns-in-the-wilderness thing, aren't guns not as effective against mountain lion attacks because they strike from behind?

The attack/death rate from mountain lions is extremely low, even in view of the two attacks/one death recently. Deaths from mountain lions are still in the single digits, for records going back to the 1800s. They usually won't attack something bigger than themselves (i.e. most humans standing) and rarely from the front. Small kids and crouching people can be targets.

So... carrying a gun probably will be a moot point. To me, bears are always the more realistic threat, and even then, very rare.

..and bears have been erradicated from the area for decades.

tragic result, as i understand it, of them getting accustomed to eating seal by-products left on the beach by fishermen after they took the good meat. when the seal industry ended in the area, the bears didn't know how to hunt anymore.

that's what a friend told me, anyway..

Note that the article referred to is a commentary column written by a guest columnistfrom Alaska. It is not an L.A. Times editorial stating the opinion of the newspaper. Hard to figure how carrying "heat" is going to protect anyone from the typical ambush attack of a mountain lion.

not to mention that mountain lion attacks in california are rare enough to be a neglibile threat. I'm no fan of gun control, but people shouldn't be as concerned with carrying guns as they should be with basic safety precations when hiking.. many more injuries occur in the area due to people going out there and having something happen with no recourse..

(reminds me of the guy who posted that he wants to hike rainier and is wondering if he should bring crampons)

besides, what does the average handgun with ammunition weigh? upwards of 5 lbs? way way too heavy..

I found out about this guest comment via highly popular blogger Instapundit:

http://www.instapundit.com/archives/013649.php

I sent him an email with a link to the entry on my blog which contains a link to this discussion, but it hasn't been printed. Instead, he's now got other comments agreeing with the guest comment...