[at-l] This and that....

[baltimorejack@hotmail.com (Jack Tarlin)]

1.  To Mike---what everyone has told you so far is true---you should by all 
means obtain (either new or used) the complete map set as published by or 
thru the ATC and the local trail clubs.  There's lots of ways to save money 
on your trip, but not carrying maps is not one of them, at least it's not a 
particularly good one.

2.  Re. guns---seems we've been over this one time and time again, but here 
goes.  And before the affronted flames start flying my way, be aware that 
I'm NOT anti-gun, anti-hunting, anti-Second Amendment, or anything else.  I 
am merely making comments based on my own experience on the Trail, which I 
assure you, is not insignificant.

    *You don't need a firearm on the Appalachian Trail.  Period.

    *Unless you are a senior law enforcement officer on the level of FBI 
agent, Secret Service, or Federal Marshall, there are undoubtedly places 
where you'd be breaking the law by carrying one---the Trail covers ALL sorts 
of areas, with all sorts of laws and restrictions---in addition to various 
Federal, State, Country, and City and Town regulations, you'll also be going 
thru National Parks, National Forests, State Parks, State Game Lands, State 
Forests, Wildife Preserves, Wildlife Refuges, privately owned land, Federal 
Military districts, National Historic Districts,  and so on. It'd be 
impossible to be aware of all of the laws that one, as a respectable and 
law-abiding gun-owner, would be expected to conform to.  Eventually, 
somewhere, you'd be in violation of the law, and as gun-owners and their 
advocates are perpetually reminding us, responsible gun-owning citizens are 
always law-abiding ones.

    *Unless the gun is loaded and is easily and immediately accessible to 
you, it is useless weight, and theoretically puts you and others at risk (In 
the worst-case scenario, for example, if you're robbed of your possessions 
at gun or knifepoint, and your gun is buried in your pack, the criminal in 
question now has an additional weapon to use against you or others).  And as 
to the liklihood of this worst-case scenario taking place on the A.T., i.e. 
being attacked or threatened with deadly force while on the Trail, it has 
happened a ridiculously small ammount of times during the life of the Trail. 
  You are statistically safer on the A.T. than you are in your own kitchen 
or bathroom----if you don't carry a sidearm when you go down the hall to pee 
or raid the fridge,  well you don't need one on the A.T. either.

   *If the gun IS visible, this is only going to distress most of the folks 
you're with, who generally want nothing to do with firearms while on the 
Trail, or with those who feel compelled to carry them.  If it becomes known 
that you're carrying a gun, be prepared for two things:  I hope to God you 
are aware of the various local, state, and federal laws pertaining to their 
use in individual areas, cuz sooner or later, a fellow hiker who is weirded 
out by your gun-packing will report you to the authorities; also, be 
prepared for a very lonely hike, as NOBODY wants to be hiking on the A.T. 
with anyone known to carry.  Your gun may be your best friend, but I assure 
you, on the A.T. it will be your only one.

   *You are most welcome, for whatever bizarre reason, to carry a 14" knife, 
machete, or tomahawk on the A.T., but once again, I hope you're planning to 
hike and camp alone.  When other hikers see items such as these, or any 
other weapon so manifestly uneeded and out-of-place on the AT, they'll quite 
rightly start wondering about the person who is carrying them, and will 
avoid folks like this like the plague.

  *The above comments are not meant to anger or incite anyone, especially 
the folks who feel that some sort of major defensive weapon is needed on the 
Trail; the comments are merely based on extensive AT experience, and on 
interactions with hundreds of hikers over the years.
I absolutely acknowledge that there are some places in the American 
backcountry where a firearm is probably a good idea (interested parties 
should check out today's Boston Globe, www.bostonglobe.com, for a 
comprehemsive article on the growing risk, in some areas, of predator 
attack); however, these areas where a gun might be needed are primarily in 
the West, or certainly, very far from the Appalachian Trail.

   *Having said all this, it only remains to say the following: Anyone whose 
personal level of fear and insecurity is such that they feel compelled to 
carry a firarm while on the A.T. has simply not spent enough time on the 
Trail to properly know what is needed and what isn't, and they may well want 
to avoid this particular trail until they muster the confidence, knowledge, 
and common sense to know what IS neeeded out there.  For heaven's sake, 
people, conquer your fears; there are any number of places in America where 
a gun is a good idea, but the A.T. is decidedly not one of them.

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