As a woman, I would feel more comfortable and safe knowing that law abiding citizens were carrying weapons in the state forests.  My reasoning for this is very simple, after being with my husband all throughout Europe, Africa and other places, it hits you right in the face when the local population has no recourse for their own proteciton except the police and/or the military which in both cases is either too slow to react, to corrupt or just indifferent except for the rich and powerful.  There is good reason our Founding Fathers made the individual right to carry/own a weapon the 2nd Amendment.  This should be a no brainer decision---approve the petition now!    Patricia J. Vaught