In October 2006, a serial killer, Gary Michael Hilton, kidnapped and murdered 2 innocent hikers, John and Irene Bryant of Hendersonville, NC in Pisgah National Forest. This serial killer went on to murder a young hiker, Meredith Emerson, in Georgia and Cheryl Hodges in Florida.
Because the National Forest is controlled under NCWRC’s “Game Lands” regulations, law-abiding citizens are denied their natural, god-given, and 2nd Amendment protected, right to self-defense. Law abiding citizens are restricted to possession of .22 caliber side arms only while on an NC Game Land; this restriction essentially denies a law-abiding citizen the means of adequate self-defense.
Unfortunately, criminals do not tend to abide by the law and will arm themselves adequately to their task. In fact, the restriction informs the criminal that his victim is most likely to be unarmed and therefore easy prey.
As an avid fisherman, backpacker and hiker, I understand the sheer size and remoteness of our forests. It is impossible for law enforcement to be present everywhere or even to respond to a call for help in a timely manner. This is not the fault of law enforcement; it is simple reality. Therefore, it falls on the individual to provide for self-defense and the defense of his family. In fact, my wife has stopped taking our 2 young boys on day hikes as a result of the Bryant murders and your denial of her right to carry her licensed .38 special revolver.
To argue that the denial of a right to carry a licensed handgun on Game Lands is a deterrent to poaching is weak at best. Again, the criminal (the poacher in this case) already has chosen to break the law, what value is another law that will be ignored by the law-breaker? Further, my wife’s 2” barreled .38 Special is hardly the optimum choice for a criminal poaching deer, though it may save her life, and the lives of my 2 boys, if she is confronted by a rapist or murderer while enjoying an afternoon in our great forests.
Those citizens who have obtained North Carolina Concealed Handgun Permits have been vetted by the state, are not felons and have passed what training is required to carry their self-defense tools on Main Street. Why does that license become null and void at the edge of a National Forest?
Recent changes at the federal level include a change to rulings allowing licensed concealed carry of firearms in our National Parks as well as landmark Supreme Court cases (Heller and McDonald) that affirm the individual citizen’s right to bear arms.
I would like to ask the commission how they continue to justify this denial of a law-abiding citizens right to self defense by restricting the possession of adequate self defense tools, namely a properly licensed handgun of sufficient caliber to serve its intended purpose.
