If carrying a gun makes you feel eight feet tall and covered with hair you shouldn't be carrying a gun.

I have a fishing license. When I go I'll probably be carrying a .22 pistol -- not because of bears and mountain lions, but because of rattlesnakes.

Now, I have a live-and-let-live attitude toward all critters. Last time I encountered one it was 20 feet away; it "tasted" me, decided I wasn't a threat (I'd stopped) and it went on its way. But I could tread on a rattler and be forced to Do Something. I wouldn't like it, but there it is. If I were to go hiking well up into the backcountry I might carry something with a bit more "oomph" (probably a rifle, not a pistol). But in any case it's a lot easier to let the critters know you're coming so they can clear out than to have to kill one, and even a .357 or a .44 mag could just annoy it.

I wonder if the hiker who shot the bear was forced to or did so because he had a gun that could do so...most bears will leave you alone if you leave them and their cubs alone.

As for the National Parks -- I'm waiting for day when the one camper says "Hey, asshole! That was MY campsite!" BANG! And so are the rangers around here....