We, the public, need the same right to carry weapons for our protection in State forests that we have to carry in most other parts of the state.
I have had a weapon stolen from a locked vehicle in the past; leaving handguns in vehicles is not a option any person should be forced to resort to. Vehicles are too easy to break into, and leaving firearms in unattended vehicles is simply inviting criminals to obtain weapons that will be used later, in criminal activities. At this point in life, neither my wife nor myself are young and spry. We are too old to run, and too weak and slow to fight........just the kind of prey that two legged predators select as their targets. We need to be able to legally defend ourselves from criminals anywhere, at anytime.
The statewide release of cougars by the USF&WS is another reason the public should have the right to defend themselves. Eventually, some of these relocated carnivores will get old and lame; when they do, some will eventually attack humans, instead of starving to death, as they have done over 100 times in the Western part of the United States. Collusion of state and federal officials on these cougar releases to control deer herds will backfire when someone gets maimed or killed, and political repercussions will be much more severe, if laws are in place that prevent citizens from being able to legally carry weapons in state forests.
Criminals never obey the law..................that is why they are criminals. If only 1/10 of one percent of our population are criminals, think how many rapists and murderers there are out there. Picking someone off in the woods comes naturally to these miscreants. Pass the law to let us protect ourselves. It is the morally correct ting to do, and it is the political decision that will show the public at large that our officials do, indeed, try to maintain law and order, instead of following some liberal anti-gun agenda, opposing both common sense, and the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
Jim Burke
