On the
safety page
of the Daniel Boone National Forest website they give this warning: "Often our visitors may come in contact with angry, intoxicated, illegal, or armed individuals while visiting our forest." The pack or don't pack controversy has even been recently pursued on the
Red River Gorge Trail Crew's forum. Charles Rowe, leader of the RRGTC, gave this response on their forum:
"By law Federal Employees are not allowed to possess a gun while at work or at work places. The same regulations apply to Volunteers working for the FS. Of course there is an exemption for Law Enforcement personnel and a variance (with a lot of paperwork) for some employees in grizzly country. I remember asking about this in my early years with the FS. The contention was: doesn't this violate my rights? The answer was clear and legal, they said nope, because you don't have to work here. I said no more."
Law enforcement officers carry guns in the backcountry for a good reason: they are law enforcement officers. Most of us are not. I personally don't carry a gun in the Gorge, but many people do, a few for hunting, but most for personal protection. So I had to ask of those who do pack "What are you scared of?", and the answers flooded in.
The answer that Keith Smith of the
kywilderness.com forum gave, "People with guns", was a short and accurate summary that echoed throughout the responses. Others contended that good guys with guns made them feel safer. Some were afraid of running across pot patches and meth labs, and some just had fun with the topic, one saying "Clowns. I freakin' hate clowns. I'd bust a cap in a backpackin' Bozo without a second thought."
But from all of the answers to my question, only one thing stood out in my mind. Nobody mentioned a fear of animals or reptiles. Black bears, wildcats, copperheads and timber rattlesnakes, they are all there.
I've even had a Doe, a deer, a female deer, with two fawns hiss angerly at me. Bambie my butt.
Yet we are only afraid of people. This seems odd to me, but not because I don't believe that we are the most dangerous animal.
The rough terrain, particularly the clifflines, is the source of more injuries and deaths than everything else grouped together. A gun won't
tie an autoblock knot on a rappeller's rope, or keep a bad driver's car on the road, and it won't stop people from
falling over cliffs. Perhaps we should be more wary of our own misjudgements than we are of other people.
Next comes the question of legality. Yes, it is legal to carry a gun in the Red River Gorge, but there are conditions...
1) If you are hunting, you must have a valid hunting license and follow all rules and regulations set forth by the
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
2) If your gun is not visible, as in your backpack, you should have a valid
Kentucky Carry Concealed Deadly Weapon (CCDW) License.
Update: Two more notes about the CCDW license
One reader wondered if an unloaded gun in a backpack would be considered as concealed. Looking back through the Kentucky State Police website, I found
this description of a deadly weapon:
"Any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury, may be discharged." That "readily capable" part seemed vague
and open to interpretation, so I called KSP headquarters for clarification. The person I spoke with said he "wouldn't think" that an unloaded gun in a
backpack, even with ammo in the pack, would be considered readily capable any more than a loaded gun in a LOCKED glove compartment of a car would be,
which is not considered to be concealed in Kentucky. But to find out for certain, you can call the department that handles CCDW approvals at 502.227.8725.
Good luck if you call. Better yet, call your attorney.
Also, Illinois is the only one of Kentucky's seven bordering states that does not offer CCDW license reciprocity acceptance. So if you're from the Land of Lincoln,
just carry your loaded gun in a visible holster, which leads me to my next question:
How is an unloaded gun in a backpack going to provide protection?
