I am wondering, what percentage of us carry weapons out on the trail for security reasons? Has anyone experienced or heard of any negative incidents happening? I assume for the most part Overlanding individuals, the conservation minded, scenic route takers that we are. Are wonderful people!
I've personally experienced three negative incidents involving firearms while on various trips. Interestingly, none of these involved an animal, other than humans. In fact my go-to for animals is a can of bear spray.
The most concerning incident was on a trip with an online club (not OB, but similar) that included a family I hadn't met before. They were problematic from the start, didn't bring enough food for their kids, water for their dog, or enough money for gas to get home. One of the parents was very concerned about "cats" (mountain lions) and carried a holstered handgun the entire trip and kept messing around with it. Several times I saw them lift up the holstered weapon and point the muzzle at their kids while saying things like "look over there". I'm assuming it was loaded, which of course violates one of the most fundamental rules of gun safety (never point your weapon at anything you aren't willing to destroy). It was like being next to an irresponsible person at a gun range, you just want to get out of the area.
In another case a friend of mine, who I respect and trust, got drunk and pulled out his 45 to show everybody in camp. Definitely lower risk than the above story, but accidents can happen, and in my mind guns and alcohol don't mix.
The final negative story was at a campsite along a river. There were two guys camped a few hundred yards upstream who we had met earlier in the day. In the evening there was a lot of yelling from their camp, and well after dark someone started shooting off multiple rounds. After some discussion our group decided nobody was going to be able to sleep until we knew what was going on (since we were well within range of a misaimed shot) so we walked up the trail to check things out. The guys had been drinking and one claimed he was "attacked" by a rattlesnake and had to shoot it (funny, I thought they were cold blooded and non-active at night). They had the snake in a bag and planned to eat it for breakfast.
Oh, and several times I've run across people in the back country either shooting towards rocks, without a backstop, or across the trail. Not situations you want to hang out around.
These are probably not the kind of "negative incidents" the OP was asking about, but are something to consider from the other side of the equation. The common thread in these stories is people not being responsible gun owners, but ultimately none of these people had malicious intent. I have multiple friends who carry on trips and I have zero issue with it since I know they are responsible and highly trained (retired police, firearms instructors, 3 gun competitors, etc). That said, I definitely get a bit "weirded out" when people I don't know open carry in camp.
And since this thread has already gotten pretty heated let me be clear, I am not against bringing guns on trips. As people like to point out guns are inanimate objects. It is some (not all) of the people holding them that I worry about, and not because I think they have any ill intent towards me.
