One of the primary reasons my wife and I have chosen to legally carry concealed weapons to protect ourselves and our family is the well founded assumption that help will not be immediately available at the time of an assault.  This is no criticism to those officers that have chosen to assume the duty to protect the citizenry, however the fact remains that the police cannot be all places to defend all people at all times.  My wife and I believe that it is our duty as responsible citizens and parents to protect ourselves and our children until help arrives.

    I find it unconscionable that our elected officials would support any law that requires us to be defenseless victims for the many minutes that it would take for help to arrive.  This is even more troubling as we are forced to be defenseless in some of the most remote and difficult to access parts of our state.  In these ares it quickly ceases to be a matter of when help will arrive and more of a matter of whether or not they will be able to arrive to help at all.

    It if for these reasons I ask that you support this petition to allow lawful carry of firearms in our forests.