[at-l] gunshot signals

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

Shane, don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of guns.  I own and shoot my
share of them, just not on the trail.  It's the gun toters that worry
me.  Seriously, though, I really wouldn't interpret three gun shots as a
distress signal.  At least not the first three shots I heard.  If
someone repeated it in a few moments or minutes I'd probably think it
was a signal.

If I were using a gun for protection, or to harm someone, or some thing,
I'd probably fire off about three rounds to make sure I got the job
done.  I've actually heard gun shots near the AT, and while hiking the
Ozark Highland's Trail.  The first thing that comes to my mind, though,
when hearing the shots, is not that someone is in distress, and that I
should go searching out the person that is firing the weapon.  I
wouldn't have the same response to 3 blows of a whistle, however.  I'd
immediately think that was a distress signal.