when boondocking do you bring a weapon ?

luberhill wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

luberhill wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Not that anybody wants to, but if we return to the original theme of the thread there is another issue with weapons and boondocking. When you boondock, you have no more right to be there than anyone else. You don't have a defined area that is "yours". If you actually get into a confrontation and shoot someone that is going to be a legal tidbit that is going to cause you a whole lot of grief.
I no longer feel comfortable traveling the back country of Montana's great national parks. The law has been changed and now people are allowed to carry firearms in those parks. My concern is someone who has never been in the back country is going to hear a sound, automatically assume it is a grizzly and begin to fire randomly into the bushes. If that sound came from me and my horse walking a trail, that is a problem.
A weapon in a situation where you are unfamiliar and uncomfortable doesn't suddenly make you familiar and comfortable. It just adds fuel to a potential fire.

Ok MY use of the gun would be this: someone knocks on the door at night,,,,dog goes nuts,,,I ask what they what,,,they say open up,,,I say pls leave,,,I am armed and my dog will bite,,,they break the door open,,,,,I get to leave,,,they do not !

Sounds like you already decided to bring a gun - so why ask the question in the first place? If 10 people posted No and 1 posted Yes, would that have changed your mind?

Rather than start the pro-gun, neutral-gun, anti-gun argument, why not just do what you're going to do and be done with it?

If you want to carry a shotgun because it makes you feel safer, then carry a shotgun. As to whether the risk is there - well that depends on your definition of risk and your risk tolerance.

One thing to remember about boondocking is that you boondock to get away from people - the odds that your location is going to have some nut case hiding behind a tree just waiting for you to appear so he can come at you is pretty minimal. Most of these crimes are crimes of opportunities - to be an opportunity, the nut case has to be in your specific area at the exact time that you are there - with the size of our national forests, BLM and COE lands, those odds are really darn low.

Humm,,,well how to respond without insulting you....I wasn't posted asking you if I can carry one,,,pls re-read,,,I asked DO YOU carry...I tend to like to be prepared...anyone that has run into problems and needed on sure wish they had one...again I wouldn't carry to se it in an argument....I carry IF myself or my family are put into a situation where my life is threatened ,,,,,again PLEASE read before replying :)

My post wasn't being insulting. It was just a statement. On a forum like this, asking people "do you carry a gun" is going to elicit a lot of comments - ones you like and ones you don't like. You don't want to hear from folks who don't carry a gun - you already decided you want to carry a gun. So rather than ask an RV forum - which has people from all sides of the gun issue - why not ask a gun forum which will provide you with the information you need to carry your gun without problems? Instead of ending up arguing with people who don't like guns and don't carry guns, you would be able to get specific information regarding the potential problems of carrying guns.

As to the bolded - I think you mean "I carry IN CASE myself or my family are put into a situation where my life is threatened". If you only carry IF you are in that situation, then you wouldn't have the gun, because you weren't in that situation when you left the house. Going boondocking does not put you into that situation - you could potentially find yourself in that situation when you are boondocking, but there are so many more factors involved than just parking the RV in a national forest.

NYCgrrl wrote:

luberhill wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:
Mad bad dog and guns and you still don't feel safe?
Syracuse must have some serious problems.

I don't travel with manufactured weaponry and I feel fine.
No problems with Canadians either.

Humm not sure how to respond to such a ,,,,,weird answer,,,first off I feel very safe where I live, but people with RV's usually camp outside of their own neighborhoods and states,,,,read the posts you will see people travel, that's why hey buy RV's that they can drive....smh

I also like being prepared when boondocking into areas that I don't know too well,,,no problem being prepared,,,,I don't plan on having a fire either but I still keep a fire extinguisher ....

Glad you have no problems with Canadians either, great for you,,,,I do not either,,,only the ones that throw stones at Americans and do not understand our lifestyle !

luberhill wrote:
we will have our dog,,,who doesn't miss a trick and will cause a problem IF she needs to protect,,,but I was thinking of carrying a shotgun too,,,any problems doing that ?? I have a NY pistol license but cant cross state lines

luberhill wrote:
I have a 4 legged mad man that is ALWAYS near me....

Don't know why you find my response weird. You've stated your assessment of your dog's disposition; that you currently own at least one hand gun and are considering purchasing or traveling w/other firearms:h.

As far as your reasons for carrying that of course is your business but it wasn't a wild leap to assume you lived in fear in your home locale and were taking that concern out of town w/ you.

People who travel in whatever mode are wise to be aware of their surroundings and that has served me well at home and away.

lol....this from the person that says they hate guns....listen I understand YOUR feeling,,,I don't share it though...and I wasn't talking about a handgun,,,I wouldn't carry a handgun across state lines,,,And as I already told you at least once...I don't live in fear...I like being prepared...I am happy for you that you have not had any problems,,,hope you stay that lucky,,,,,

luberhill wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:
Mad bad dog and guns and you still don't feel safe?
Syracuse must have some serious problems.

I don't travel with manufactured weaponry and I feel fine.
No problems with Canadians either.

Humm not sure how to respond to such a ,,,,,weird answer,,,first off I feel very safe where I live, but people with RV's usually camp outside of their own neighborhoods and states,,,,read the posts you will see people travel, that's why hey buy RV's that they can drive....smh

I also like being prepared when boondocking into areas that I don't know too well,,,no problem being prepared,,,,I don't plan on having a fire either but I still keep a fire extinguisher ....

Glad you have no problems with Canadians either, great for you,,,,I do not either,,,only the ones that throw stones at Americans and do not understand our lifestyle !

luberhill wrote:
we will have our dog,,,who doesn't miss a trick and will cause a problem IF she needs to protect,,,but I was thinking of carrying a shotgun too,,,any problems doing that ?? I have a NY pistol license but cant cross state lines

luberhill wrote:
I have a 4 legged mad man that is ALWAYS near me....

Don't know why you find my response weird. You've stated your assessment of your dog's disposition; that you currently own at least one hand gun and are considering purchasing or traveling w/other firearms:h.

As far as your reasons for carrying that of course is your business but it wasn't a wild leap to assume you lived in fear in your home locale and were taking that concern out of town w/ you.

People who travel in whatever mode are wise to be aware of their surroundings and that has served me well at home and away.

toedtoes wrote:

luberhill wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Not that anybody wants to, but if we return to the original theme of the thread there is another issue with weapons and boondocking. When you boondock, you have no more right to be there than anyone else. You don't have a defined area that is "yours". If you actually get into a confrontation and shoot someone that is going to be a legal tidbit that is going to cause you a whole lot of grief.
I no longer feel comfortable traveling the back country of Montana's great national parks. The law has been changed and now people are allowed to carry firearms in those parks. My concern is someone who has never been in the back country is going to hear a sound, automatically assume it is a grizzly and begin to fire randomly into the bushes. If that sound came from me and my horse walking a trail, that is a problem.
A weapon in a situation where you are unfamiliar and uncomfortable doesn't suddenly make you familiar and comfortable. It just adds fuel to a potential fire.

Ok MY use of the gun would be this: someone knocks on the door at night,,,,dog goes nuts,,,I ask what they what,,,they say open up,,,I say pls leave,,,I am armed and my dog will bite,,,they break the door open,,,,,I get to leave,,,they do not !

Sounds like you already decided to bring a gun - so why ask the question in the first place? If 10 people posted No and 1 posted Yes, would that have changed your mind?

Rather than start the pro-gun, neutral-gun, anti-gun argument, why not just do what you're going to do and be done with it?

If you want to carry a shotgun because it makes you feel safer, then carry a shotgun. As to whether the risk is there - well that depends on your definition of risk and your risk tolerance.

One thing to remember about boondocking is that you boondock to get away from people - the odds that your location is going to have some nut case hiding behind a tree just waiting for you to appear so he can come at you is pretty minimal. Most of these crimes are crimes of opportunities - to be an opportunity, the nut case has to be in your specific area at the exact time that you are there - with the size of our national forests, BLM and COE lands, those odds are really darn low.

Humm,,,well how to respond without insulting you....I wasn't posted asking you if I can carry one,,,pls re-read,,,I asked DO YOU carry...I tend to like to be prepared...anyone that has run into problems and needed on sure wish they had one...again I wouldn't carry to se it in an argument....I carry IF myself or my family are put into a situation where my life is threatened ,,,,,again PLEASE read before replying :)

People need to realize that folks grow drugs in the back country and cook meth We don't live in a fairytale world were cops are at every corner to protect us. Anymore we are on our own .

luberhill wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Not that anybody wants to, but if we return to the original theme of the thread there is another issue with weapons and boondocking. When you boondock, you have no more right to be there than anyone else. You don't have a defined area that is "yours". If you actually get into a confrontation and shoot someone that is going to be a legal tidbit that is going to cause you a whole lot of grief.
I no longer feel comfortable traveling the back country of Montana's great national parks. The law has been changed and now people are allowed to carry firearms in those parks. My concern is someone who has never been in the back country is going to hear a sound, automatically assume it is a grizzly and begin to fire randomly into the bushes. If that sound came from me and my horse walking a trail, that is a problem.
A weapon in a situation where you are unfamiliar and uncomfortable doesn't suddenly make you familiar and comfortable. It just adds fuel to a potential fire.

Ok MY use of the gun would be this: someone knocks on the door at night,,,,dog goes nuts,,,I ask what they what,,,they say open up,,,I say pls leave,,,I am armed and my dog will bite,,,they break the door open,,,,,I get to leave,,,they do not !

Sounds like you already decided to bring a gun - so why ask the question in the first place? If 10 people posted No and 1 posted Yes, would that have changed your mind?

Rather than start the pro-gun, neutral-gun, anti-gun argument, why not just do what you're going to do and be done with it?

If you want to carry a shotgun because it makes you feel safer, then carry a shotgun. As to whether the risk is there - well that depends on your definition of risk and your risk tolerance.

One thing to remember about boondocking is that you boondock to get away from people - the odds that your location is going to have some nut case hiding behind a tree just waiting for you to appear so he can come at you is pretty minimal. Most of these crimes are crimes of opportunities - to be an opportunity, the nut case has to be in your specific area at the exact time that you are there - with the size of our national forests, BLM and COE lands, those odds are really darn low.

So long as we stay on topic, I'm ok with it. No politics, no flaming, etc. Follow the Forum Rules and we're good.

'Nuff said.

Hey Mod...thanks for keeping this open. Interesting points of view from all that contributed.

I carry. nuf said.

We full-timed for 16 years and absolutely love boondocking in national forests and BLM lands. We've stayed way out in the boonies by ourselves. We've left the motorhome and took off siteseeing in our Jeep. We've never had anything stolen. Our many full-timing friends do the same.

We've never owned a gun and never plan to do so. There are too many paranoid folks looking over their shoulder at every turn. What fun is that?

We don't put ourselves in that kind of environment and criminals don't give a rip about the places we stay. It's too difficult for them. :)